


Softer Sides

by QueenAlicorn



Category: Monster High
Genre: 80's Music, Bully, Bullying, Cat, Christmas, Dancing, Dancing and Singing, F/M, Feline, Fire, First Dance, Frankenstein - Freeform, Friendship, Going to the movies, Gorgons (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Greek, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Human, It's a Wonderful Life, Love, Medusa - Freeform, Monster - Freeform, Monster High - Freeform, Monsters, More - Freeform, Music, Mythology - Freeform, Party, Purring, Radio, School Dances, Slow Dancing, Song: Every Breath You Take (The Police), Teenagers, Theatre, Vampires, Were-Creatures, Werecat, Werewolf, Werewolf Family, Werewolves, Winter, beyond, breaking illusion, dance, element - Freeform, fire element, friend, friends - Freeform, gorgon - Freeform, happiness, human family, illusion, is this love, looking, looking beyond, more then you see, movie, movies - Freeform, mummy - Freeform, radio show, theres more to me, vampire, vampire/werewolf
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:20:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 35,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22752400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenAlicorn/pseuds/QueenAlicorn
Summary: Heath Burns hears the emotional words of a girl on the radio. Afterwords he gets shoved in the spot light, and everyone is in his business. He gets a bit overwhelmed until he finds sanctuary with an unexpected person. Who knew they had a softer side?
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it's characters.

Chapter 1,

"Hey There Ghouls, you're listening to Cupid. And today is the day that we just started our 'Ask Cupid' boxes in Monster High. Just a reminder, folks, that these letters are going to be posted up on my new website Gholia helped me set up. Thanks girl. How did our Ask Cupid boxes do?" Cupid turned from her station to a line of four students. These four boxes were set up in the places students spent the most time in, and Cupid had high hopes. The students lifted their lids, and three of them had bats fly out, and the fourth one took a single letter and held it out to Cupid.

"Huh, only one letter?" Cupid said taking it.

"Well everyone let's see what's on this writer's heart." Cupid said and she opened the letter next to the microphone so people could hear her opening it. On the other side of the school, in the library Frankie, Clawdeen, Gholia and Heath were all in a study group together. But they never miss Cupid's show, so they could still hear it.

"I didn't know those boxes were up already." Heath said as he stared at his math book.

"I don't know how you could miss it, but I'm surprised that someone actually wrote a letter." Clawdeen said and Frankie turned to her.

"Why?" She asked and Gholia moaned.

"Exactly. Most radio shows have callers, and writing is so much more... permanent." Clawdeen said and Frankie shrugged.

"I don't know, lots of people say things they don't mean, and so saying something can be such a spur of the moment kind of deal. But imagine if someone has been struggling with their feelings, and is too shy to call. So instead they-"

"Listen up, followers the letter says:

Dear Cupid,

I'm not entirely sure if I'll mail this to you or not. In fact the chances of me ripping this up and throwing it away is at 90%. So perhaps I should be blunt. There is this guy I have a thing for, but I also think he is a big idiot. I don't understand why I like him, if I also can't stand him. He is so desperate for approval that he flirts with any girl that accidentally glances at him." Hearing this made Clawdeen chuckle.

"Sounds like Heath." She whispered, but he still heard her.

"Hey." He complained, though he knew it was true.

"He is loud and klutzy and accident prone. And to make matters worse, he is such a good guy, and I pride myself on being a tough ghoul. We come from two different worlds, but I think about him when I'm by myself. I giggle at his ridiculous behavior and failed attempts to woe women. I love how he is always there supporting his friends even when they don't want him around. And more importantly I love his loyalty and sincerity. I suppose my main question is what I should do? I don't want to ruin my rep by admitting that I like him. And I know that he would never like me, and if he did it's not like our relationship would last. Most high school relationships end anyways, so why should I risk everything for a guy who will reject me or throw me away? I want to stop liking him, and my feelings are getting stronger. I'm feeling so lost Cupid, so lost.

See you soon,

Stripes." Cupid set the paper down and thought about this question. And it seemed like the whole school was waiting on Cupid's answer. Just holding their breath so that they didn't miss a single word.

"Well Stripes, first of all thank you for your letter. It has been a while since someone asked my questions like this. To answer one, if you do like this guy, then I would say that you probably see something in this guy that he may not see in himself. Reading this makes me believe that you have fallen for who the guy truly is and not this mask that he insists on wearing. And yes, it's true that most high school relationships end, but the same can be true for any chance of love you find. In 'Love Never Dies' Christine Daae sings 'Hearts may get broken. But love endures.' So if Abby were here she would tell you to walk up to him, tell him how you feel and if he doesn't like you, then you move on. Well, there could be some wisdom in that for you. If you don't make the effort to get close to this guy 'from another world', then you won't even have a chance at a relationship. And even though one or both of you could get hurt, you will regret losing this chance. Oh, and let's not forget your reputation. The funny thing about reputation is that most of the time, it's uncomfortable for us to stay in. Successful people can't be themselves because then people may think less of them. And you say that you're a tough girl. Maybe you're not as tough as you let everyone think. Maybe you want to be softer and kinder and much more gentle. But you are held back by that curse of being a tough girl. Maybe you need to step out of your comfort zone and enjoy the freedom outside it. Besides if you have a crush on this guy's truer nature; then just think how sweet it would be when he saw you for who you really are? No secrets, no lies, no walls, just complete connection." Cupid paused as she glanced back over the letter.

"And Stripes, you tell me that you don't want to like him any more. Well, that can be hard to do, but honey, think about how much happier you would be if you took a chance and followed your heart. If you don't listen to it when it's talking to you, then when will you ever listen to it?" Cupid smiled softly and she closed the letter and slipped it back into the envelope, which everyone heard.

"Ok everybody. Normally I would be turning to the phones to answer a caller, but I think after this letter we could all use a five minute break. So during our break, Operetta will be playing some music for us." Cupid said and then music started to play.

"I can't believe a girl has a crush on Heath!" Frankie exclaimed and Gholia shushed her.

"Sorry." She said in return.

"We don't know that's me." Heath said and Clawdeen shrugged.

"How many other klutzy womanizers are at this school?" Clawdeen said and Heath scoffed.

"Please, ladies love them some Heath." Heath said and Gholia moaned.

"Yeah, you're right." Clawdeen said and Frankie giggled.

"Maybe he will get a date for Christmas dance this year." Frankie said.

"Hey, last year I was sick and couldn't make it." Heath said.

"What about the year before?" Clawdeen asked.

"Well, my mom needed help with our relatives, they showed up without warning." Heath said cautiously.

"What about the year after that." Frankie asked genuinely since she did not exist then.

"Our pipes froze and I had to heat them back up." Heath said defensively and Clawdeen put a hand on his arm.

"Listen, Heath. We understood not wanting to go to a dance without a date. And if there is a girl who likes you so much that she needs Cupid's help, then we are routing for you." Clawdeen said and Heath said nothing. Instead he looked into his complicated math book wishing he was already at home. And though his silence is a bit out of character, he did think about Stripes and wondered if she did like him.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it's characters.

Chapter 2,

Study Howl was one of Heath's last classes. Well, technically he had his stinkin' Creative Writing next, but he hardly considered that a real class. He took it so that he could score some major points with the ladies.

The bitter-sweet thing about this class is that he was assigned to sit right next to Toralei. The bitter is when she purposely ruins his chances at romance. Not that it was anything new, but it was still annoying. Though Heath learned that Toralei is actually pretty funny. She can mimic the voice of anyone she has ever met and this can get her into trouble but she doesn't seem to mind.

In fact, after listening to Cupid's show, and leaving the library, he wondered if Toralei would mimic Cupid's voice to make jokes. He had his school bag slung over his shoulder thinking about Toralei standing on a desk saying 'normally I want you to be sweet, but for you I'll change my ways because I'm not right about everything.' This thought made him smile, and he glanced around and noticed that a lot of people were looking at him.

All those eyes, focused on him, made Heath uncomfortable. And typically he enjoyed being in the center of attention, but he wasn't doing anything special. Just walking down the hall, even as attractive as he was, that wouldn't be enough to get this much attention.

"Heath! My man!" Deuce ran up and put his arm around his buddy's shoulders.

"When are we going to met this mystery girl of yours?" Deuce said and Clawd stood on the other side of Heath.

"Yeah, dude. Why didn't you tell us about her?" Clawd said and Heath glanced at both of them.

"All ladies love the Heathmister, which one are you two talking about?" Heath asked.

"Uh, earth to Heath, the girl from Cupid's show. The one in love with you. Didn't you listen to her show today?" Deuce asked and Heath sighed.

"Oh, I heard the show. But there is no reason why the letter chick was talking about me." Heath said and Clawd chuckled.

"Oh, sure. We are so going to believe that." Clawd said sarcastically.

"I'm serious, dudes. Man, why do people keep thinking that letter is about me?" Heath said and Deuce smiled.

"You are Klutzy. And flirt with all girls. And can be a bit accident prone. Your fire does tend to burn things up or set off the sprinkler system." Deuce said and Heath rolled his eyes.

"You dudes are just messing with me now." Heath said and Clawd looked at Deuce.

"You know, I think Heath genuinely doesn't know who the girl is." Clawd commented and Deuce shrugged.

"Well, I guess that's ok. Cupid wants this Stripes chick to make a move on him. So if he doesn't know who it is, he'll figure it out soon." Deuce said. Heath could barely believe his friends. He was going to remind them that the ghoul who wrote the letter didn't say who she liked, but the bell rang.

"Oh, time for class, see you lover-boy." Clawd said with a wink, then he and Deuce chuckled as they walked away from Heath. As for the hot head, he stepped into his class and instantly all of the girls started whispering to each other. Well, almost all of the girls.

Toralei was at her desk, chair leaned back, her feet reclined on her desk, her arms crossed in front of her chest, and her eyes were closed. It appeared that she was asleep and completely relaxed. Which was the opposite of how Heath was feeling right now. Heath took his seat beside Toralei and looked out the window next to him.

"How is it possible for you to always smell like ash and cheap cologne?" Heath heard a girl purr and he turned to Toralei, who opened one eye for him.

"I don't smell like that." Heath said and Toralei closed her eye again.

"It's harder for one to smell themselves the way others smell them. Besides this kitty recognized your scent when you were down the hall." Toralei remarked and Heath scoffed.

"Says the Ghoul who fell in the pit of eternal body odor." Heath said and Toralei gave off a low growl. Suddenly every phone in the classroom went off and Toralei huffed.

"How can I take a catnap with all of these distractions?" She asked not wanting to move. But Heath pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw a notification from Spectra's blog.

"Oh, no. I don't even know if I want to check that out." Heath groaned and Toralei opened both of her eyes and looked at Heath.

"Afternoon class." The creative writing teacher said as he entered the classroom. Most of the time Toralei liked to make some offhanded comment or joke the second Mr. Bumps entered the room, but she was focused on how upset Heath looked.

"Toralei a desk is not a welcome mat. Please take your feet off of it." Mr. Bumps said and Toralei put her feet down and pulled her phone out of her bag. She saw the same notification from Spectra's blog that Heath got, so she clicked on it.

"Mystery girl sends Cupid a letter and survey says Stripes loves Heath." Spectra's voice said and Heath slumped in his seat, overhearing this.

"Something wrong, fire hazard?" Toralei asked and Heath glanced at her.

"I just don't get why everyone says that it's me the chick likes." Heath said.

"Well, you do have a one of a kind personality." Toralei said and Heath sighed and stared at his desk. It was obvious that this thing was bothering him, and Toralei hated kicking someone when they were already down.

"So what do you care? All that means is that there is a ghoul out there who has a crush on you. Is that so bad?" Toralei asked and Heath looked at her, so she looked at her nails.

"It wouldn't be so bad if she didn't want to stop liking me. I mean, 'Hey, I like you, but I hate myself for it?' How insulting." Heath said and he crossed his arms.

"I suppose one could look at it that way." Toralei said and Heath shook his head.

"How else am I suppose to look at it? I always thought of myself as a babe magnet, but if she hates her crush on me... makes me wonder... if I, well... I'm not that bad, am I?" Heath asked not sure why he was being so open with Toralei who wouldn't hesitate to make fun of him. But when no answer was immediately said, he looked at her and saw a concentrated look on the feline's face.

Is she actually taking my question seriously?

Heath thought curiously and she looked at him with her big green eyes.

"Bad can be an option, or an opinion, you know." She said and this completely threw him.

"I wasn't expecting that. What do you mean?" Heath asked and she gave a small smile.

"Is water good or bad?" Toralei asked and Heath blinked.

"Huh?" He wasn't sure if he heard Toralei correctly. Toralei noticed that Mr. Bumps had started some lecture about the structure of poetry, so she pulled out her notebook and started to copy the notes on the board.

"Is water good or bad?" She repeated and Heath paused.

"Uh, good I guess." Heath said unsure and Toralei chuckled softly.

"Ok, think of Lagoona. She is a mer-ghoul from the Great Scarrier Reef. She loves the water. Now think of me. I'm a Were-cat, which automatically makes me hate water. For Lagoona, water is good. For me, water is bad. It's the same water, but our opinions on it are different." Toralei said and Heath rubbed the back of his neck.

"And your point is-?" Heath asked and she smiled.

"You asked if you were really that bad. Technically my answer doesn't matter. If you think you're bad, then you'll be bad. If you think you're good, then you'll be good. If you think you're not, then you're be not. Well, that last one sounded off, but you understand what I mean. How feel about yourself matters and no one else has the right to change that." Toralei said and Heath thought about this and he started to feel better.

"Yeah, you're right." Heath said and Toralei looked at him.

"Of course I'm right. Besides, you're probably burning your wick for nothing. By tomorrow the school should be on their next piece of gossip." Toralei said and Heath smiled.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but thanks Toralei." Heath said and Toralei blinked. She smiled softly and tucked some fur behind her ear as an uncomfortable giggle left her lips.

"No, prob. Just don't mention it, otherwise I'll have to claw your eyes out." She said staring at her notebook the entire time. Oddly enough this threat made Heath chuckle quietly.

You know for someone as tough as Toralei, she can be helpful when she wants to be.

He thought and he stared at her for a moment.

Heck when she is being nice, she is actually cute. Well, cute is kinda childish, but Toralei is very pretty.

Heath realized as he grabbed his notebook. Because he does have the ability to know a girl is pretty without hitting on them. And he wanted to keep his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it's characters.

Chapter 3,

The following day, Heath was sure that Toralei was right about everyone moving on to something else. So imagine his discomfort to realize he was still being stared at like some wildfire. He couldn't imagine how in the world this letter business could get worse.

"Ow!" A ghoul walking past Heath tripped and fell hard.

"Oh, let me help you." Heath said grabbing her books and pulling the creature up to her feet.

"Thanks, I can be so clumsy at times, and-" then she stopped and gasped.

"You're Heath Burns." She muttered, a strange fear growing in her eyes.

"I guess I'm more popular then I realized. What was your name?" Heath asked handing the Ghoul her books. She snatched them right out of his hands and this hurt him.

"Stay away from me, I didn't write that letter." She said, running down the hall just to get away from him, and Heath sighed.

"You're welcome." Heath said and Frankie rounded the corner.

"Oh, hey Heath." Frankie said, and paused when he didn't respond right away.

"Heath? You ok?" She asked and she tapped his shoulder which surprised him.

"Frankie, you're here. Next to me. Uh, you're not going to run away from me are you?" He asked shyly and Frankie chuckled.

"You're being paranoid, Heath." Frankie said and Heath's expression dropped for a moment.

"I'm really not." Heath said and Frankie grabbed his sleeve.

"Come on, negative energy. You still got to get to class." Frankie said and Heath walked with her for a bit. He kept his usual smile, but seems like with a girl beside him, he was getting more unwanted attention.

"So, do you think that Stripes will ask you out?" Frankie said and Heath blushed.

"I don't even want to think about that." Heath said, and Frankie looked at him.

"Why not?" She asked and Heath kept glancing around.

"If you haven't noticed, Ghoul-fiend, just one single letter made the whole school look in my direction. I have been so focused on keeping my cool so that I don't flame out. I haven't been thinking of someone, just walking up to me and asking me out." Heath said and Frankie shrugged.

"Well, I guess that makes sense. But still, I kinda like the idea of you finally getting a girlfriend." Frankie said and Heath looked at her.

"Finally?" Heath repeated and Frankie chuckled nervously.

"Just that, I do agree with Stripes that you are a good guy. And you deserve a girlfriend who cares for the best side of you." Frankie said and Heath nodded, though he didn't really feel better.

"I don't get why everyone is so curious as to this whole thing. Stripes didn't say who she liked, but everyone says that it's me. Why does the whole school care?" Heath said and Frankie paused.

"You know, I remember my mom saying that my dad was a different monster when they were dating. So maybe you are a different monster when you're trying to win a girl, then when you are in a relationship with one. My guess is that everyone is curious to see what kind of a boyfriend you would be. And they wouldn't be curious if they didn't care." Frankie said and Heath thought about this.

"The whole school is curious because the whole school cares about me?" Heath summed up Frankie's evaluation.

"Exactly, Heath. Just try to be understanding, ok? And besides, Cupid is bound to get more letters today." Frankie said and Heath smiled.

"You make a lot of sense Frankie. Oh, look, that zombie/unicorn guy is waving at you." Heath said pointing to the hybrid.

"His name is Nathan, Heath." Frankie said as she giggled.

"Nathan is such a normie name. Are you sure that's his actual name." Heath said and Frankie rolled her eyes.

"Oh, you. I'm gonna go say hello. See you in Study Howl?" Frankie asked, though she didn't wait for an answer before leaving the fire element alone.

"I'll be there." Heath whispered and he stopped at his locker and opened it up.

"Me-ouch." He heard someone purr and he adjusted his locker door, and saw Toralei standing there.

"What do you want?" Heath asked, more confused then annoyed.

"Oh, cat's claws are out I see." Toralei said with a low chuckle.

"Sorry." Heath said, not completely sure why he felt the need to say it.

"No, I respect it. Even if I'm the one getting hissed at." Toralei said and Heath rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Seriously though, did you need something, Toralei?" Heath said as he grabbed the books he needed for his Mad Science class.

"Normally I wouldn't care but I have a slight problem at home that my... my, um..." Toralei hesitated slightly, and Heath briefly wondered if she was in trouble.

"My... F.M. thought that you could help with." She finally finished and Heath rose an eyebrow at her.

"F.M?" He questioned and she scoffed.

"The 'lady of the house'." Toralei explained and Heath understood that this was her mother.

"Oh, well what's the problem?" Heath asked and Toralei examined her nails.

"F.M. is doing this charity fundraiser or something like that. She is baking a whole bunch of cookies and cupcakes and stuff, but our oven broke. She knows about you, and thought that you could help her bake." Toralei said and Heath blinked.

"How did she know about me?" Heath said and Toralei shrugged.

"Whose to say. So I'm required to ask, but you don't have to say yes." Toralei said and Heath stared at her for a minute.

"Don't you want me to come over so that she can finish baking?" Heath asked, wondering why she was so neutral about his participation.

"I don't care if she bakes." Toralei simply said and Heath rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. I was planning to go to the mall with Deuce and Clawd after school." Heath said and Toralei's eye twitched.

"Like I said, I don't care." She stared and Heath thought her tough, but pouting expression was kinda cute, so he smiled.

"They really want to look around to help each other find anniversary gifts for their Ghouls. Apparently they are close together so they both keep each other calm. I was just going to tag along, but I can help your mom bake." Heath said and he almost saw a smile on Toralei's face, until he said the word 'mom'.

"Fine, I'll call the F.M. and tell her you're coming over after school." She said and she pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed a number. Heath looked at her, and remembered the Ghoul who ran away from him earlier. Wasn't she worried that people would think she liked him?

"Hey, Christine... I just talked to him and he has agreed to help out with the baking... uh huh, right after school... 'kay... 'kay..." Toralei looked at Heath and crossed her eyes which made him chuckle.

"Christine, you know what time I'll be home, it's the same as every day... fine, not every day... I'm sure Heath will be a gentleman... I don't know, I never asked... bye." Toralei hung up and shook her head.

"Just so you know, Christine may ask why your parents named you 'Heath'." Toralei warned and Heath blinked.

"Who is Christine?" Heath asked and Toralei shrugged, not really caring.

"Christine is the F.M. Normally I just call her Christine and that's it." Toralei said and Heath nodded.

"Ok, I guess that explains why she wants me to be a gentleman." Heath said and Toralei giggled.

"Oh, that barely has anything to do with you. She's thinking about Rocco. Remember him, from Granite City High?" Toralei asked and Heath nodded.

"The Head Gargoyle on the SKRM team for his school, right?" Heath asked and Toralei smiled.

"Purr-cisely." She said and Heath closed his locker.

"Yeah, he's also your boyfriend. I guess your parents aren't a big fan then." Heath said and Toralei shrugged.

"Rocco and I found attraction in our love of playing dirty. Sometimes Christine and Harry thought we went too far, but we didn't care. So that's why Christine wants to know that your nothing like Rocco." Toralei said and Heath shrugged.

"Ok, I'm your bro, calico." Heath said with a smile and his comment earned an eye roll and a quiet chuckle from Toralei.

"Whatever, flame head." Toralei said and she walked away from him. She probably wasn't going to her class, but the way her tail swished back and forth was quite hypnotizing.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do notown Monster High or it's characters.

Chapter 4,

Lunchtime, at Monster High was typically very busy. After all, most monsters eat every day, and some eat way more then their fair share.

But this is also one of Heath's favorite 'class' because being a fire element, he usually burned more calories then the average monster. He still cared what the Ghouls thought of him, so he would rather go through the lunch line three times then to sit down and eat a whole bunch of food in one sitting.

Also, it was one of the few times where Cupid and Abbey could do their show together. Everyone seemed to love their back and forth opinions and how they differed. So, naturally, they got way more listeners during lunch then the rest of the day.

"Cleo?" Heath asked when he saw her at his table sitting beside Deuce and Manny.

"Surprised by my spooktacular outfit, Heath?" She asked and Heath rolled his eyes.

"Just by you. I thought that you normally sat with your buddies, is all." Heath explained and Cleo shrugged.

"Every once in a while, I like to be with Deuce during lunch. He's been my boyfriend forever you know." Cleo pointed out and Heath nodded as he sat down.

"Yeah, yeah." Heath said and Manny looked at his tray.

"Are you already on your second tray? Lunch just started." Manny said and Deuce looked at how Heath was holding a second tray under his food.

"I'm just extra hungry today." Heath said and Deuce glanced at Cleo.

"Everything ok?" Deuce asked and Heath smiled widely.

"Need you ask?" Heath said before opening a can of soda and sipping it.

"Dude." Deuce pushed, knowing his friend better then that.

"Relax." Heath said and Cleo snapped her fingers and her two Anubis bodyguards showed up holding a small radio.

"There, he's fine. Now let's listen to Cupid's show. I bet Abbey is already annoying her." Cleo said with a chuckle and one of the Anubis turned on the device.

"How many time must I say that secret admirer is stupid? You should never accept a package without name on it." Abbey's voice rang out and Heath sighed.

"She is so cool." He muttered and Manny rolled his eyes.

"You don't have a snowball's chance in hell." Manny said and Heath smiled at him.

"If the snowball is in hell, then I would." Heath said, causing a groan at his table.

"What, the snowball has to be there for a reason" Heath pointed out, which was pretty smart.

"Shh." Cleo hushed and Heath rolled his eyes, because once again he was being sucked into listening to this show again.

"Abbey, some people are shy, and don't know how else to express themselves. Fear of rejection is a very real thing that stands in the way of relationships." Cupid said and Abbey scoffed.

"You treat listeners like babies. They can handle a person saying no, and moving on." Abbey said and Cupid sighed.

"It's not always easy Abbey." Cupid said and Abbey laughed.

"Sure it is. I remember, in my village, a boy ask me out, and I say no. Later that day I see him with Frozine, who ran the wind chime store. I think 'good for them'. See, is easy." Abbey said and Heath stood up. His sudden movement caused Cleo to jump, and she glared at him.

"O.M. Ra, Heath. Where are you going?" Cleo asked and Heath threw his trash away.

"I'm getting more food." Heath said and left for the line.

"Doesn't he know that he can put his trays away when he is done with them?" Cleo asked and Deuce looked at Heath to see how far away he was.

"Heath has trouble remembering things. Keeping the old trays is one of the ways he can keep track of how much he eats." Deuce explained and Cleo rolled her eyes.

"Memory troubles? Now everything makes sense." Cleo said and Deuce chuckled which made her smile.

"Abbey, have you ever considered that maybe some monsters aren't that accustomed to rejection or turning others away?" Cupid asked and Abbey laughed.

"Ha! No point dating a creature you do not like." Abbey said and Cupid groaned.

"That's not what I'm saying, I'm just saying that it's not always easy." Cupid said and Abbey scoffed.

"We go round in circles. It might be best to agree to disagree and take next caller." Abbey said and Cupid clicked a button.

"Alright, caller. What matters to your heart?" Cupid asked and Cleo glared at a certain monster.

"Just knowing that Toralei is in the same room as me, tightens my bandages." Cleo said and Deuce saw Toralei, alone, reading a book and eating her lunch with a fork.

"She's not even bugging anybody, Cleo. Chil-lax, would you." Deuce said and Cleo rolled her eyes.

"For now." She muttered and turned up the radio.

"Purr, well we just looove your show Cupid."

"Meow, yeah. And we were wondering if you could do a favor for us."

Two voices purred, sounding remarkably similar.

"Does that sound like Meowlody and Purrsephone, to you?" Cleo asked Deuce who paused.

"Toralei's kitty friends?" Deuce asked.

"More like her only friends." Cleo retorted and Deuce turned the radio up even louder.

"We are here to help in any way we can, caller." Cupid said, in her usual chipper tone.

"Wwwell, we were wondering if you could take a look in your Ask Cupid boxes a bit early." One of the kitties said and Heath paid for his third tray of food and started to make his way back to his friends, and Cleo.

"Pleeeease Cupid. We want to see if there is another letter from Stripes." The other kitty said and Heath heard this, and stopped right next to Toralei. She could recognize his scent anywhere, but she didn't expect him to stop beside her. She looked up from her book and saw a look on his face and perked up to the noise of the radio.

"Actually we did collect a few letters earlier today. I believe one of them was from Stripes." Cupid said and Heath groaned.

"Oh, not this again." Heath mindlessly sat at the table beside him, and therefore next to Toralei.

"Distracted much." Toralei said and Heath nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard her voice.

"Geez, Toralei. Give a guy a little warning would you." Heath complained, and Toralei licked her paw.

"You sat next to me, scaredy-cat." She simply said and she eyed his three trays.

"Ok, I have just been handed the letter. I can't wait to see what she has written." Cupid said and Heath sighed and gestures to the radio.

"This chick has already ruined one day for me, what else has she got to say." Heath said and Toralei blinked for a moment and then held her book up.

"Well, maybe you should listen to her before you judge her." Toralei commented and Heath let out a small groan. He pushed his tray forward a bit and crossed his arms on the table in case he needed to hide his face.

"Dear Cupid, I felt the need to write you another letter because I may not have been as correct in my word choice, as I should have been."

"Girl confusing me already." Abbey interrupted, and Heath looked at the radio.

"Let me finish, Abbey." Cupid pleaded and then she cleared her throat.

"When talking to a close friend, they made it sound like I hated my crush because of the guy. This is untrue. And perhaps, since so many people figured it out, I should simply admit that my crush is on Heath Burns. But I am not embarrassed at the fact that I like Heath, and if I were a different Ghoul I would gladly try to win him over. But I'm not. I'm ashamed that I could never be good enough to be with him. You see, I've seen Heath being supportive of Clawdeen with her Flashion-mob and he thought that he had to wear a dress. And kind to Draculara when she had her makeup all messed up. And trying to be helpful with Gholia, even though he occasionally messed up. He is sweet and considerate, and strong. I mean, have you seen him when he plays Skultimate Roller Maze? He can be super tough, and when he is shirtless he can be so hot. Literally. Although, he still looks cute when he takes off his jacket and you get to see his gray t-shirt. I'm almost surprised that more Ghouls don't throw themselves at Heath's feet. I mean, he is everything you have ever hoped for in a sweet boyfriend, and because he is a fire element you get to have that same sense of danger that you get when you're with a bad boy. He is the best of both worlds, and I mean that honest and true. I still don't think that he could ever like me, though. A lot of monsters aren't that fond of me, but I learned to accept that. I'm not everyone's cup of tea, or whatever they drink. I remember you telling me that I like Heath's true nature and not his mask. And that I could be really happy if he saw me without my mask. I'm not entirely sure if that would be true. I've worn a metaphorical mask for most of my life, and I don't even remember who I am without it. And after you read my letter, it seems like Heath is being punished for my insecurities and that isn't fair or right. I just don't deserve a guy as awesome as Heath. I wish more monsters saw him the way I did." Cupid said and Heath looked at Toralei.

"You know, that really wasn't as bad as I thought." Heath said and Toralei smiled, though she didn't put down her book.

"Told ya, you should listen before you judge." Toralei said and Heath straightened his back.

"Yeah, maybe now the Ghouls won't run away from me." He said and Toralei looked up from her book to see a whole bunch of female monsters walking over to their table.

"Uh, Heath." Toralei said and Heath blinked as he saw it too.

"I think I... should... run!" Heath ran out of the Creepateria with several Ghouls chasing him. But once in the hall, more chicks saw him and he started to be chased by them. It was as if he were now a pop star of sorts.

Toralei thought this was all so stupid. Cupid reads the first letter and everyone avoids him. Now with the second letter, everyone chases him. If people just tried harder to open their eyes to who people are, then simple things like a paper and ink on it wouldn't change how someone saw another.

"Looks like it's time for a game of cat and fire-mouse." Toralei said, but she picked up Heath's tray and what was left of her food, and exited the Creepateria.

Heath wasn't sure where he was going, or why all this attention wasn't exciting or happy, but he just kept running. He turned left and right, and in circles, but the more girls saw him, the more they wanted to ambush him. Finally he hit what appeared to be a dead end. He groaned.

"I'm the Heathmister, it's suppose to be an honer to have women chasing me." Heath turned around and saw the girls, and his face dropped.

"So why is it so scary?" Heath said and he covered his eyes. Suddenly, in front of Heath, a ball dropped and a thick cloud formed. He felt a tug from behind him and he fell back onto the ground. He was in a dark room, though the school had many he wasn't sure about.

Back in the hall, the Ghouls stopped when seeing the cloud and frantically searched for where the flamer was. Unaware to them, someone had hidden Heath, and confused the crowd. This same person, took an ordinary baseball and a lighter and put the ball on fire. And before they could see what she was doing she put the lit ball on top of the lockers and rolled it down the lengthy metal road.

"My word, I see fire. It must be Heath, let's find him." A voice sounding like Robecca Steam said and everyone turned to the fire and followed it. Heath may not have known where he was, but he heard this commotion and waited to see his rescuer. From the corner of the room, a girl slid in. It was more of a side step, but the figure still made Heath jump.

"R-Robecca?" Heath asked, knowing that he heard her speak.

"Dearie you should know not to believe everything you hear." He heard Robecca say, but then Toralei stepped into view and he blinked.

"Not what you were expecting, dearie?" Toralei said in Robecca's voice.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it's characters.

Chapter 5,

Toralei cleared her throat and giggled at Heath.

"Reow, you know I can mimic people." Toralei said and Heath sat up.

"I know that, I just didn't expect you to be the one to help me." Heath said and Toralei shrugged.

"Well, I just thought that maybe you would want to finish your meal in peace." Toralei said and Heath paused. She went over to a table and pulled two trays off of it. One was his tray that he abandoned and the other was hers.

"Um, thanks." Heath said as he took his tray. Toralei sat on the ground in front of him, and put her tray on her lap.

"So, where are we?" Heath said and Toralei looked around.

"I'm pretty sure that this is an abandoned Mad Scientist classroom. But because the entrance is so hard to find, no one used it and forgot about it." Toralei said and Heath nodded.

"Yeah, How did you find this place?" Heath asked and Toralei shrugged.

"I know a lot of hideouts actually. I like to know where I can escape for a catnap." Toralei said and Heath smiled, finally he ate some of his food.

"Actually I found this room after a fight I had with Meowlody and Purrsephone." Toralei said and Heath stared at her.

"I thought that you three agreed on everything." Heath said and Toralei looked away sadly.

"Well... not... everything." She said slowly and Heath knew that something was weighing on her heart and he tilted his head. He wasn't sure what to say. He had a problem of saying the wrong things at the wrong time.

"Oh, what does it matters? That was a while ago." Toralei said and then she picked up Her tuna fish sandwich and took a bite.

"You are a bit different then I had you pegged." Heath said and Toralei blinked. Then she tucked some fur behind her ear as she chuckled nervously.

"Just because I wasn't hunting you today, doesn't mean that you were wrong about me." Toralei said and Heath recalled how she had a similar reaction when they were in class together. When he told her thanks for making him feel better. Surely he didn't make her nervous. When a Ghoul is as tough as Toralei, then how could a loud klutz like him make her nervous?

"Well, maybe there is something that I should tell you." Heath started and Toralei blinked.

"Yeah?" She asked and Heath rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, my flame is pretty crazy. It takes all my concentration to keep from melting my desk. I remember being in a cooking class with Abbey, and I ruined a lot of her dishes. The only way we even passed the class is by doing some apple dish. I carved an apple out of a huge block of ice. I must have scorched 60 different apples. I was there for hours. But it took me forever to focus all of my energy into it." Heath said and Toralei paused.

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked and Heath sighed.

"Because maybe I'm not the best person to help your mother with her baking. Maybe you should get Jennifire." Heath said and Toralei could have laughed at him because he was correct. But instead she choose to smile warmly and understandingly.

"Heath... Listen... Um, I know that I can rub people the wrong way. And there isn't a lot of people who would be willing to help me. And even though she does have better control of her fire powers, I would rather have you." Toralei said and Heath stared at her soft face.

"But why?" He couldn't stop himself from asking and Toralei ate another bite of sandwich so that she had a second to think.

"Because the letters Cupid read was true. You are honest and loyal. And to me, your probably the most trustworthy kid at this school. And if I can't trust the most trustworthy kid to come over to my house and help, then I can't trust anyone." Toralei said and Heath couldn't help but smile.

"Shucks." He said with a blush and she giggled. Her giggle made him feel so good that his hair caught fire and Heath noticed something. In the dark room, in the glow of the candlelight, Toralei's fur almost seemed to sparkle. And if this wasn't enough to take Heath's breath away, her emerald eyes glow ever so slightly, and her lipstick caught the reflection of his moving flame. Sparkling fur, glowing eyes, and dancing lips, but only in the light of his fire. Toralei blushed at Heath's eyes, which never wanted to leave her presences. She turned to politely escape it, but no one had ever looked at her like that before. She had done so much in her life, and she knew that she didn't deserve such loving attention.

"I don't normally bring a light in here. My eyes can see well in the dark, so I don't really need it. Once I brought a flashlight, and the room looked a bit scary." Toralei paused to glance at Heath, who hasn't regained his breath yet.

"It's funny how that made it scary, when no light made it forbidden." Toralei said, quickly looking away.

"But the strange thing is that your hair is gently lighting up this whole room, and it's not scary or forbidden. In fact, it almost seems... warm and homey." Toralei said with a chuckle and she finished her sandwich.

"Hey, I think that's a phonograph." Toralei said, standing up. This action finally snapped Heath out of his hypnotized state and register what she said.

"A what?" He asked and Toralei went over to the dusty device in the corner.

"A phonograph. You know those old record players with that funky megaphone on top of it." She said and Heath ate some of his food, though there wasn't much left.

"Like in the live action Scooby-Doo?" Heath asked and Toralei paused.

"Uh... I know there is one in the Monsters Unleashed, but I can't remember if there was one in the first one." Toralei said and Heath smiled.

Normally Scooby-Doo was on a lot of monster's hate list. After all who, in their right mind, would want to see a dog and a bunch of kids make fun of monster by capturing them and saying they don't exist? Heath thought some of it was funny because it was just a bunch of humans pretending to be monsters but failing. The fact that Toralei not only didn't criticize him for his reference, but knew exactly what he was talking about? It made Heath think that maybe she was a fan of Scooby-Doo, which would make her different then most monsters in general.

"I can't read what this record says, it's too faded." Toralei commented and Heath stood up, thinking that if he stood next to her, then it would be easier to see. Toralei hoped that she was doing this correctly, and she put the needle on top of the record and flipped the switch. An 80's song began to play and Toralei turned and blushed to see Heath standing right next to her. They both chuckled nervously, and tried to avoid eye contact.

"Every breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, I'll be watching you."

The record sang and Heath rubbed the back of his neck again.

"I, uh... don't suppose that you would..." Heath started and he got interrupted by the lyrics.

"Every single day, Every word you say, Every game you play, Every night you stay, I'll be watching you."

Toralei was watching Heath. Her breath was short and she bit her lip a little. She was nervous.

"Uh, dance?" Heath finally asked, half-afraid of rejection, and half-afraid of acceptance. But he did hold his hands out to her, and then Toralei took a deep breath and put her hands in his. Heath didn't slow dance much, but he brought Toralei close and they swayed a bit.

"O, can't you see, You belong to me, My poor heart aches, With every step you take."

Heath smiled and he took the lead, he moved her out, and back, and out, and twirled her as the lyrics continued.

"Every move you make, Every vow you break, Every smile you fake, Every claim you stake, I'll be watching you."

Toralei loves this song, and she loved the following drum addition. She had never slow danced to it before though. For that you need a partner, and she had always done solo work.

"Since you've been gone, I've been lost without a trace."

Heath moved them across the room.

"I dream at night, I can only see your face."

He held her close and started to glide them through the desks.

"I look around, but it's you I can't replace, I feel so cold and I long for your embrace, I keep crying, baby, baby please."

Toralei followed Heath inbetween the maze of desks. Together they danced, and it hardly even seemed like a classroom anymore. Heath's flame made the whole room pleasant, and in that flame, Toralei couldn't look anymore beautiful. Listening to the music, they hardly spoke, and somehow, they made it back to the middle of the room. Toralei sighed and she rested her head on Heath's chest. Heath gently lowered his head against the top of hers.

"O can't you see, you belong to me, my poor heart aches, with every step you take."

Heath hummed along with the lyrics, and Toralei found this soothing, and she actually began purring.

"Every move you make, Every vow you break, Every smile you fake, Every claim you stake, I'll be watching you."

Heath was so shocked that Toralei was purring, that he started to sing along with the song. The vibration of his voice, almost felt like purring to Toralei, and she couldn't stop smiling.

"Every move you make, Every step you take, I'll be watching you."

Heath lowered his cheek against Toralei's hair, and it was so soft, that he rubbed it slightly, closing his eyes to memorize the feel. Very cat-like, and yet he didn't mind it. The song ends with a few seconds of repeating lyrics, so Heath wasn't going to sing that

"I'll be watching you."

The record sang, alone.

"Every breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, Every step you take."

The record and Toralei sang, though for her it was more of a whisper, which Heath enjoyed.

"I'll be watching you."

The record sang with Heath, and Toralei lifted her head slowly so that she wouldn't hit Heath.

"Every single day, Every word you say, Every game you play, Every night you stay."

Toralei sang along and Heath smiled.

"I'll be watching you."

Heath dipped Toralei, something he had always wanted to do with someone.

"Every move you make, Every vow you break, Every smile you fake, Every claim you stake."

Toralei lifted her leg out to keep her balance, but she giggled and put her forehead against Heath's.

"I'll be watching you."

Heath smiled at this and rubbed his nose against her furry one.

"Every single day, Every word you say, Every game you play, Every night you stay."

Heath lifted the both of them slightly, but he kept Toralei slanted.

"I'll be watching you."

Toralei couldn't remember the last time she had felt this happy.

"Every breath you take, Every move you make, Every bond you break, Every step you take."

Heath reached up and caressed Toralei's cheek, and she froze at the intimate action.

"I'll be watching you."

Heath sang, and his eyes stared deep into Toralei's eyes, wanting to unlock the secrets.

"Every single day, Every word you say, Every game you play, Every night you stay."

Toralei barely had the focus to breathe this out. She was in Heath's arms, listening to a romantic song, in a dark room lit by candlelight (or close enough).

"I'll be watching you."

Heath was lost in his own world. He ran his thumb across her fur, and then over her bottom lip. This act was so gentle, that it tickled Toralei a little.

Heath swallowed hard, because in that moment, the only thing he wanted to to was to kiss Toralei. And Toralei bit her lip softly, because in that moment, the only thing she wanted was to kiss him. They both had their reasons to not go for it, but it wasn't until the next song started to play that the spell seemed to break.

Toralei was the one who broke away, she went over to the Phonograph and stopped the record. She flipped it over and smiled.

"This album is called Synchronicity. It just didn't have the sticker on the other side." She said, trying to sound happy, but instead she sounded crushed. The best way to end a romantic moment like that was to kiss your partner. But instead she chickened out, and she may forever regret it.

"Well... uh, well..." Heath couldn't see her face, but she knew that she was sad. And he wanted to know how he had gotten so smitten by Toralei, in the short amount of time that they had. But he didn't have long to think up a reply because the bell rang.

"Lunch is over." Toralei said and Heath noticed how she avoiding his gaze, as she went to leave the room.

"Yeah, I got gym next." Heath commented, feeling different, though they hadn't done anything.

"Yeah, and I got drama." Toralei said. It was her favorite class, yet she didn't want to go. She would rather stay here or follow Heath to gym class. But she knew that was stupid for her to feel. Heath followed her out of the classroom so that he could find the way out, and once in the hall, they stood there for a moment.

"Um, so I guess..." Heath started, and a few Ghouls and dudes saw them together, but he wasn't being jumped so he didn't care.

"See you in Creative Writing?" Toralei suggested and Heath smiled.

"Yeah." He said, and she walked away. Heath watched her walk, her steps moving rhythmically, and hips swaying softly. Though he had to get to class too, so after a moment, he to walked away.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it's characters.

Chapter 6,

Today, the Gym class was playing dodgeball, but Heath could barely focus. He kept thinking about Toralei and how she looked in his flame. He had never seen a monster transform that much.

Deuce had noticed that the Fire Element was distracted so he kept getting Heath out of the game. Because if he was going to heat up, it was better to keep him on the bleachers and away from the other students.

As for Clawd, well. He kept chasing the balls, and got out after he caught one. When he was on the sidelines, he did his best to suppress his doggy nature and let others play the game. And for the most part he was successful. Other times... well...

"Clawd! Get back to the bleachers!" The gym teacher said, blowing their whistle. Clawd has caught a stray ball, and was chewing it a little, when the teacher made their way over to him. He whined when he saw their hand, not wanting to let the ball go. So the teacher grabbed the ball in his mouth and he let out a low growl.

"Don't you growl at me." The teacher said, but when they pulled again, Clawd growled again. This time the teacher pulled out a dog whistle and blew it.

"Ye-Ow!" Clawd exclaimed, covering his ears as the teacher walked away with the ball. Clawd was muttering to himself as he walked back to the bleachers. Only then did the wolf look up and see Heath.

Heath was slumped over himself and put his head in his arms. He was imagining Toralei against his chest purring, but it wasn't the same. Clawd remembered having that same love sick puppy dog face before he and Draculaura started dating.

So he went up to his buddy, and sat next to him. Heath saw that he was there, but for a moment, they didn't say a word to each other. Clawd wasn't use to Heath being silent, and Clawd cleared his throat to get his attention.

"You ok?" Clawd asked and Heath sat up a little.

"Yeah, of course, I'm the Heathmister." He said, but more out of expectation then anything else. Clawd was a werewolf, and they tend to be a bit more empathetic then most monsters, so Clawd knew that he was lying.

"Come on." Clawd said and Heath sighed.

"I'm not sure... I just keep thinking, and thinking, and thinking." Heath said and Clawd wanted to make a joke about that, but knew it wasn't the time.

"About what?" Clawd asked and Heath glanced at Clawd, and then he leaned back against the wall behind the bleachers.

"Oh, what do you care, forget it." Heath muttered, not wanting to admit his feeling for a girl his friends hated.

"Hey? Where did that come from." Clawd said, and Heath turned to him. At first he was going to tell him off, but then a thought occurred to him. Clawd and Draculaura started dating before werewolves and vampires started to accept one another. So if anyone could understand 'loving the enemy', it would be Clawd.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a bit on edge." Heath said and Clawd nodded, sensing that this was true.

"It's ok man. I guess those two letters that Cupid read can be a bit much." Clawd said and Heath nodded. Though to be honest, he was so focused on Toralei, that he nearly forgot about them.

"Hey, can I ask you some questions?" Heath asked, and the fact that Heath was asking at all was out of character. Clawd got the feeling like Heath was about to test a line, and knew it.

"I suppose." Clawd said cautiously and Heath bit his lip.

"Well, it's just... I... uh... well I was wondering about you and Draculaura." Heath said and Clawd still felt on edge.

"What about it?" He asked and Heath tried to find the right words.

"Well, I was wondering, uh, how you felt when you realized that you liked Draculara?" Heath asked and Clawd blinked.

"Oh, uh, I guess at first it was weird. I mean, I have known her ever since I was little. I was worried that my feelings would ruin our friendship or hurt her friendship with my sister. So I did my best to cover it up. But at a dance we went to, she just blurted out that she would love to be my girlfriend. It threw me off, but she ran away before I could really do anything. But eventually we found a way to make it work, and I think we are going to last." Clawd said with a smile, and Heath started to think he was wrong about getting Clawd's opinion.

"Ok." Heath said and Clawd nudged him.

"Is that all you wanted to ask me?" Clawd asked and Heath shrugged.

"I was just thinking that maybe it was hard for you to like Draculaura. I didn't know that you two grew up together. I thought that maybe you were raised to hate vampires like several other werewolves." Heath said and Clawd shrugged.

"Not really. Mom and Dracula learned how to get along years ago. So we didn't really have that upbringing." Clawd said and Heath nodded.

"Ah." He said and Clawd looked at his buddy.

"I don't suppose that there is a reason that you're asking?" Clawd asked and Heath paused.

"Just... wondering." Heath said and Clawd sighed.

"Well, maybe we can talk about this later." Clawd said, not wanting to push his friend before he was ready.

"Maybe." Heath said, though he wasn't really sure.

"Yeah, well, are you still going to come to the Maul with Deuce and me after school? I hear that there is a really cute trainee in the food court." Clawd said, and Heath was going to say yes, but then he remembered his promise.

"Actually, I can't." Heath said and Clawd was shocked that Heath said no.

"Really?" Clawd asked trying to recover.

"Yeah, I mean, it's not like you boys need me there. And someone asked for my help, so I'm to help them." Heath said, and this made Clawd relax. Heath was ditching them for a girl, which was way more understandable.

"So whose the lucky, or perhaps unlucky, girl?" Clawd teased and Heath contemplated whether he should lie or tell the truth. On one hand, Clawd fought with Toralei as much as the next person. On the other, if Heath really wanted to be with Toralei, then he would want his friends to accept her. And this could be a nice way to introduce friendship they may have.

"Uh, actually it's... well, no one that you..." Heath kept changing his mind, but Clawd just smiled at the nervous boy.

"It's Toralei." Heath said quickly, deciding to rip off the news like a bandaid.

"Whoa, Toralei?" Clawd blinked and then he stuck a finger in his ears.

"Did I hear you right?" Clawd said and Heath was already regretting it.

"Dude." He said and Clawd looked at Heath.

"You're not kidding. Toralei? Why are you helping her? She's constantly a jerk to everyone at this school." Clawd said and Heath lowered his eyebrows.

"Her mother needs my help, so she asked and I said yes. What's your damage?" Heath said and Clawd rolled his eyes.

"She's one bad kitty." Clawd said and Heath scoffed.

"Bad is an option or an opinion you know." Heath said and then he blinked because that's exactly what Toralei had said yesterday.

"That doesn't even make sense dude." Clawd said and Heath glared at his friend.

"If it doesn't make sense, then you just don't get it, bud." Heath said, emphasizing that last word.

The teacher blew their whistle again, and indicated that a new round of dodgeball was going to start. Heath and Clawd were on different teams, and so Clawd stood next to Deuce and shook his head.

"Dude, You ok dude?" Deuce asked and Clawd scoffed.

"Heath isn't going to the Maul with us because he is going to help Toralei." Clawd said and Deuce furrowed his brow.

"Funny, Cleo was upset at Toralei being in the same room as her. And now you're upset because she needs Heath's help?" Deuce asked and Clawd paused.

"Well... more like, at Heath for ditching us and helping her." Clawd said, and the teams stood against the walls as the dodgeballs got placed on the middle line.

"Dude, we force Heath to come along so that we can keep an eye on him. And there isn't anything wrong with him helping Toralei." Deuce said and Clawd looked over at Heath who was still steaming.

"Maybe, but Toralei is cruel. You know that she started to cheer for the gargoyle team before she started dating Ricky, Rocky, Rocco... I can never remember his name." Clawd said and Deuce shrugged.

"I don't know, dude. But you know, when Frankie first came to this school, Cleo wasn't the same person she is now. She acted more like an antagonist then anything else, dude. Toralei may seem like a bad girl now, but maybe she will change like Cleo did." Deuce said and Clawd listened. He had a point. Cleo and Clawdeen took a long time to become friends. And now they managed to share clothes without much hassle.

"Still, I would want him to be cautious." Clawd said and the teacher blew the whistle.

Heath wasn't participating earlier, but now he just wanted to get Clawd knocked out of the game. So Heath ran to the center and grabbed a ball and fell back. He took deep calming breaths to keep his anger/fire in control. He saw Clawd in all fours, jumping and catching a few balls in his teeth. This made him a smaller target, but that made Heath smile. He may not be great at much, but creating a welding flame and fireballs were his speciality. And his shot wasn't too bad either.

"Hah, I love this game." Clawd said as he caught another ball, which made someone sit out.

When Clawd was actually throwing the ball back, he was the hardest person to hit. And when he caught the ball, more people of Heath's team got out. This game was ending quickly, and it seemed as if Clawd singlehandedly eliminated Heath's entire team. Soon though, it was just Heath, and the other team chuckled, but he wasn't worried.

Heath should have been though. Clawd, Deuce, Manny, Holt, and three tough vampires were all armed and ready to knock him out. Heath didn't care, he just wanted to get Clawd out because he dissed Toralei. But perhaps that wouldn't be enough to prove Heath's point. Perhaps Heath needed to eliminate the rest of Clawd's team before putting the doggy outside.

"Sorry, dude, but we all get a grade for gym." Deuce said and he threw the ball in his hand at Heath. Heath stood his ground, rose his right hand, and caught it. The ball smacked in his hand, but he caught it so coolly that no one realized that he was still in the game. Not until coach blew the whistle.

"Deuce, on the bench." The teacher said and a small murmur started. Heath smiled that the ball Deuce has thrown him was red, so he turned to Manny and smiled.

"Toro, Toro." Heath said and this enraged Manny, he charged at Heath. Heath again stood his ground until Manny crossed the line, and Heath threw the ball at the three vampires.

"Manny, you can't cross the line, your out." Coach said, but Manny had already crashed into the vampires and coach blew the whistle.

"Ball touched all three of you, your all out." The teacher said and no one could believe that Heath was the one doing all of this. Clawd senses that he had unintentionally crossed a line with Heath, and so he started to sniff around for a ball.

"Hey, Holt, I think there is a prize giveaway on station 105.3kzzx." Heath said with a smirk and Holt gasped.

"Awesome, sweet prises for sweet tunes." Holt didn't know his cousin as well as Jackson did, so he turned the radio and his ears were full of country music.

"Ah! The tune poisons me, I can't listen to it!" Holt cries and he took off his headphones and instantly transformed into Jackson.

"Uh, what's going on?" Jackson said, and he got hit in the arm by a soft dodgeball. The first one Heath had grabbed.

"Holt! Uh, Jackson. You're out!" The teacher said and Jackson blinked.

"I didn't even know that I was in." Jackson said as he walked to the bleachers. Now Clawd has gone around his area and he had a small armful of balls. He chuckled and Heath simply smiled back.

"I don't know what your damage is, but you're not going to win this round." Clawd said and Heath said nothing, which actually made him a bit intimidating.

"Alright, you ask for it." Clawd said, knowing it was only half-true. Clawd threw all the balls he had at once, and Heath looked at all of them. He put his arms behind his back and he watched as the balls get closer, and closer, and closer. And right as everyone thought that he was about to be hit, Heath fell to the gound, knees folded and back against the floor. Clawd had no idea that Heath could bend that way, and in one swift movement, Heath was back on his feet, with a bored expression on his face.

"Pity." Heath said and he picked up three of the dodgeballs that past him. Heath threw one, which Clawd rolled out of the way. The second ball, Clawd jumped in the air to avoid, but it was the third one that Heath planned for. As Clawd was in the air, Heath threw the ball and he quickly whistled. This caused Clawd to stare at the ball with doggy eyes and his eyes grew and his tongue stuck out. It hit him in the chest, and Clawd chased it once he was on the ground again. Heath had won, and no one could believe it.

"Clawd, you're out. And looks like that was the last game for today, hit the showers." The teacher said and Clawd froze. Well, after catching and returning the ball. Heath managed to win using only his intelligence. A lot of people just assumed he stopped using that, but Clawd guessed that today proves that it still works.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it's characters.

Chapter 7,

"Oh, my Ghoul, did you hear about Heath scorching the dodgeball game?" Draculaura asked Clawdeen and she nodded.

"Yeah, it's weird. I overheard Deuce telling Cleo that earlier he refused to play at all, and then he smoked everyone." Clawdeen said and Frankie paused.

"Wait, hold on a second. I've seen Heath play dodgeball before. And from what I could tell, he sucked. He would aim at one person, and then throw it at another. The only person he ever got out was himself." Frankie said and Clawdeen eyed her.

"Hey, yeah, you're right. He couldn't focus enough to get someone out." Clawdeen said and Draculaura sighed.

"Well he sure seemed focused today. Clawd said that Heath left him for last. From what Clawd tells me, Heath was upset with him from a conversation they had earlier." Draculaura said and Frankie looked at her

"What did they talk about?" She asked and Draculaura shrugged.

"Clawd wouldn't say, but since we have study howl with Heath, maybe he could tell us." She commented and Clawdeen shook her head.

"You are always trying to get in people's business. I love ya, Ghoul, but maybe this is something that Heath should bring to us." Clawdeen said and Draculaura didn't look happy.

"Well, maybe you should be more upset with the fact that Heath attacked Clawd. Remember him. My boyfriend, and your brother." Draculaura said and Clawdeen rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Still, though. We may not be that close to Heath, but he is still our friend. And as his friends we should accept his privacy and help him when he needs it." Clawdeen said and Frankie twisted her lips.

"I'm confused. How can we help Heath if we don't invade his privacy to learn what's wrong?" Frankie asked and Clawdeen sighed.

"You ghouls..." She said with a sigh.

"What?" Frankie asked, more confused now.

"Listen, we don't know Heath that well, ok. But we do know that he can flame up if he gets too emotional. And if we force him to tell us what's wrong, then we could cause a fire. Or worse, he won't be able to trust any of us." Clawdeen said and Frankie seemed to understand this.

"I still don't like Heath attacking Clawd." Draculaura said and Clawdeen chuckled.

"In dodgeball, honey, that's called playing the game." Clawdeen said and they entered the library where Ghoulia and Heath were already into there math books.

"Wait, say that again." Heath said.

"Ehhh." Ghoulia moaned and Heath scratches his head with a pencil.

"Uh, sorry Ghoulia, I still don't get it. Can we go over it again?" Heath said and Ghoulia rolled her eyes, but nodded.

"Hey, guys." Frankie said, sitting next to Heath and pulling a small radio out of her purse.

"Hey, Fran-"

"Ehhh." Ghoulia pointed at Heath's book to get him to look at it.

"Sorry." Heath said and Frankie giggled and turned on the radio.

"Ok, it's Cupid. As most of our listeners know, Abbey has Home Ick at this time, and will unable to participate for this period." Cupid said and Clawdeen scrunched her nose.

"How is it that Cupid seems to have all day to do her show? I mean, hello, doesn't she have classes too?" Clawdeen asked and Draculaura looked at her.

"She made a case to Headmistress Bloodgood that helping monsters through emotional problems was good for morale and school pride. So she gets some extra credit, and apparently does her homework while on the air, so that she doesn't fall behind." Draculaura said and Clawdeen shrugged.

"Whatever. At least she commissioned me to make her Christmas dress." Clawdeen said, pulling her sketchbook out of her purse.

"Er, er." The sketchbook muttered and it nodded.

"Wow, I thought you would have filled that book up by now." Frankie said and Clawdeen chuckled.

"Nah, It has a lot of pages. Besides, even if it was full, it's got some of my favorite designs in it. It's great for inspiration." Clawdeen said and Frankie smiled at her.

"Eeehhh." Ghoulia said and Heath scoffed.

"But I did that, it didn't work." Heath said and Ghoulia shook her head.

"Eh, Eeehh." She said and Heath looked at his paper and hers.

"Wait, but I did this... then that... but... wait." Heath said as he compared the papers.

"Thanks for your call. Hey, let's read one of the letters from the Ask Cupid boxes." Cupid said and Heath glanced at the radio, but since Cupid has already read Strips' letter, he didn't have a reason to worry.

"Dear Cupid, I have a confession to make. I have feeling for two different guys." Cupid read and Frankie gasped. Since she sat next to Heath, he instantly noticed the noise and though he was studying, he gave some attention on how she felt.

"I met one guy about a year ago. I helped save him from a bad situation, and he tells me how I make him calm and relaxed. I feel like he really likes me. And the second boy, I met a few weeks ago. He is so crazy cute, and he isn't your average monster. He is clumsy, but that's his freaky flaw. And I'm attracted to him. How do I choose between the boy who needs me, and the unique hottie? They have both helped me in my times of need, and I'm friends with both of them. I'm worried that choosing one will make my friendship with the other disappear. And what if I choose one and I'm wrong about their feelings, and that ruins our friendship. It feels like I have to make a choice in a no-win situation. Help me Cupid. Thanks in advance, Lightning." Cupid read and Heath noticed that Frankie was the only one who had stopped working in order to listen to the letter, but more importantly, the answer.

"Lightning, several of us can understand the feeling of falling for more then one person. It's confusing, and it's not easy when you're crushing on good friends. My advice to you is to dig deeper. For the first guy, he may need you, but there is more involved in relationships. If you would feel more comfortable, you could ask a friend who has been in a relationship for a while, how they stayed together. But it's similar for the other guy. Cute is only surface material. And sure some guys can turn the klutzy thing into an attractive flaw, but he is more then that. So it is nice to feel needed and to date a cute guy, but you need to look deeper. Spend some quality time with both of them to find out more about their true nature. And if you start to like one more then the other, then you have you're answer. Also it is hard to ask out a friend, always worried about changing the friendship. But if you wanted your relationship to stay the same... would you really want to ask them out to begin with?" Cupid said and Frankie took a deep breath, which only Heath noticed.

Ghoulia did her best to teach Heath, but the best she could ever do was to help him figure out his homework. And so, when that was over, the ghouls typically had a few minutes to freshen up their makeup in the bathroom before class was over. Ghoulia, Clawdeen, and Draculaura left, leaving Frankie behind to do the review quiz. Heath would normally be alone, so he normally pulled out his phone and played a game. But he wasn't alone.

"Frankie, can I ask you a question?" Heath asked and Frankie barely glanced at him.

"I'm better at science then math." Frankie stated and Heath chuckled.

"No, no, it's, um. Are you Lighting?" Heath asked and Frankie froze.

"I don't think I heard you correctly." Frankie said, hoping he said something different.

"Are you Lightning?" He asked again and she turned to him. She didn't want to say yes or no, but she couldn't say nothing.

"Frankie, you were a statue the entire time Cupid read that letter. And now your not doing what you always do, which is fix your makeup with your ghouls. Not sure what you guys fix, though, I never see a difference." Heath said and Frankie smiled at the last part.

"Well, you would be right. I am Lightning. Please don't tell anyone." Frankie said and Heath smiled.

"Okay. So who are the two guys?" Heath asked and Frankie leaned back in her chair.

"Andy and Nathan." And Heath blinked.

"Nathan is the hybrid. No wonder you said that he wasn't your average monster." Heath said and Frankie nodded.

"Well Andy is unique too. When he gets mistreated and upset, he turns into a 500 foot monster." Frankie said and Heath nodded.

"Don't remind me." Heath said and Frankie looked away.

"Andy told me that I looked like the Normie scientist that was nice to him. Technically it would be more accurate to say the only reason he likes me is because of her." Frankie said and Heath nodded.

"So, you like Andy because he needs you to stay calm and change size. And you like Nathan because he is a unique hybrid and you think he is cute." Heath said and Frankie looked at him.

"Basically, yeah. I mean, they both saved my life. And they are voltagious guys. I just feel like if I pick one, then I lose the other. But I have to pick, right? It's not fair to myself or them if I don't." Frankie said and Heath thought about it.

"Well, I don't know. I remember Ghoulia made a program to find her perfect match. She wanted to choose between Slowmo and Dawn. And then the program said I was her perfect match." Heath said and Frankie recalled all of that.

"Yeah, but you two didn't work out, so what's your point?" Frankie said, not feeling better.

"My point is that maybe, just maybe, your stitched up over these guys now, but maybe both aren't good enough for you. And maybe one of them is. But you still need to figure out what your heart says." Heath said and Frankie sat up again.

"You know, Heath. You're right." Frankie said and Heath nodded.

"Hey, it's what I do." Heath said, and Frankie chuckled at his confidence. Turns out this was the perfect opportunity for them to talk, because Heath was about to put his feet up when the bell rang.

"Ah, well." He muttered and Frankie put her stuff in her purse.

"Hey, you kinda ran out at lunch. Did things die down?" Frankie asked and Heath smiled.

"Not sure. I haven't been taking the main stream routes to class." Heath opened the door for Frankie and they got in the hall.

"But I imagine that people would have relaxed a bit by now." Heath finished his thought. Then he felt a hand tap his shoulder.

"Hey, you're Heath, right?" Some vampire chick asked and Heath hesitated.

"Yeah, who are you?" He asked.

"I'm the girl you have been looking for. I'm Stripes." The girl said and Heath's eyes widened. Though he felt confused too. He didn't expect this to be the tough rebel afraid of her feelings, and yet strong enough to tell the whole school why she liked him.

"Y-you're...?" He couldn't believe it.

"No!" A girl ran over, this one was a gargoyle, like Rochelle, but with red hair.

"Don't believe her, because I'm Stripes." The gargoyle said and the vampire pushed her with vampire powers.

"No I am!"

"I am!"

"No I am!"

"I am!"

Heath slowly backed away from these two, but then bumped into another Ghoul.

"Hey, hot stuff, I'm a bit shy, but I'm Stripes." A weremouse said and Heath chuckled nervously.

"You know, I should really get to class." He said and then a troll, a Phantom, and a swamp monster ran up to him.

"I'm Stripes."

"You got to believe me."

"Why would I lie to you."

Soon the vampire and gargoyle joined them again, and their overlapping voices were getting too much for Heath.

"I've got to go!" Heath was forced to shout over the voices. And he ran to his Creative Writing class.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it's characters.

Note: I have received my first comment ever, in Spanish. This threw me off because I have only written stories in English. But I thought it was cool. And I went online and found out the translation.

JohnAwake: This is really great! I love that the plot revolves around Heath! I wonder who Stripes really are.

Chapter 8,

Heath was a nervous wreck when he finally made it to his desk. Toralei may have been nervous to see him if he was calm, because of them dancing together. But when she saw him, she grew concerned. And when he slumped down in his seat, panting and muttering angrily, Toralei wanted to pet him to sooth his comforts. But Heath wasn't a werecat, like she was, he was a fire element, so he may not like being petted.

"Ghouls are nuts." Heath whispered as his head was in his hands. Toralei wanted to make him feel better, but then wondered how she could do that. They weren't friends, and they were barely classmates. Saying that she only did class assignments if she wanted to, and he didn't normally do well.

"Guys are crazy." She said and Heath blinked. He sat up and had a gentle blush on his face.

"Sorry, I kinda forgot where I was." Heath said and Toralei smiled.

"Where did you think you are? Scaris? Been there, done that." Toralei said and Heath chuckled.

"Nah, it's not that." Heath said and then they smiled at each other. It was enjoyable until Toralei noticed what they were doing, and she turned to look at her nails.

"So what happened?" She said and Heath sighed.

"Stripes." He said and Toralei coughed.

"What?" She said and he was surprised by her reaction.

"At lunch, Cupid read that letter. You know that, because you were right next to me, and then..." Heath blushed as he remembered the dancing.

"So?" Toralei said forcing herself to focus on her nails. She even pulled out a nail file, to help her focus.

"So... I've been chased down the hall, and just now, I got ambushed by a gaggle of chicks; and I thought the staring was bad." Heath blushed when a girl past them, and ran her hand against his arm as she went.

"See what I mean?" Heath said and Toralei swallowed a growl.

"Well, you should like the attention, right?" Toralei uttered, and Heath rolled his eyes.

"You know what those Ghouls said to me when they ambushed me?" Heath said and Toralei filed her nails a bit harder then she had to.

"Each one of them told me that they were Stripes." Heath said, and Toralei stopped completely.

"Stripes?" She asked though Heath barely heard her.

"Yeah. That was the one who wrote that letter to Cupid." Heath said and Toralei nodded.

"Right. Of course. I think you mentioned that already." She said, and she resumed filing her nails.

"Did you believe them?" Toralei asked.

"I admit, I did at first. But then someone else said it, and then someone else." Heath leaned back.

"Heck, you could say it, and now I wouldn't believe you." Heath said and Toralei was a bit hurt.

"Because I'm a troublemaker?" Toralei asked, and Heath chuckled.

"No, because you made me feel better yesterday. And you are tough, but also kind. Isn't that how Stripes described herself?" Heath said and he saw her shrugged, but she had a hard time hiding her smile. She used her fang to bite her lip, which hurt enough to wipe away her emotion.

"You know what I think?" Toralei said and Heath turned his head to her.

"Hm?" He grunted and Toralei shifted uncomfortably.

"I don't think that you should believe anyone who just comes right out and says they're Stripes." Toralei said and Heath blinked.

"Why not? On the radio Cupid said that they should try to get closer to me." Heath said and Toralei rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but she stirred up a lot of trouble. If she's smart, then she will know that she kinda pissed you off. I would never expect her to come forward now. Maybe later, but until then, she has to wait for the dust to clear." Toralei said and Heath nodded.

"That... sounds exactly right." Heath said.

"Yeah, well-"

"Evening class." Mr. Bumps entered the room and interrupted Toralei.

"Today, we will be talking about emotions." Mr. Bumps told the class as he set his bag on his desk.

"Huh, I didn't know he had any." Heath whispered to Toralei who stifled a giggle.

"Emotions can have a deep impact on what you write about. It's almost funny, depending on your emotion, an everyday object can change, mentally anyways." Mr. Bumps said and Toralei raised her hand. She mostly did this to make sure that everyone was looking at her, because she almost never waited until the teacher called her.

"So, what your saying is that the dish ran away with the spoon?" Toralei asked and the class chuckled.

"Oh, Ms. Toralei. What am I going to do with you?" Mr. Bumps didn't even pretend to whisper.

"Let's take an object that most of us should know. A trash can. If you are feeling sad, then you may view this object and a thing that people abuse and overfill, and eventually becomes hollow. If you are excited about a event, you may simply see the trash can as a dependable object who kindly accepts what you give it. If you are mad, then you may see the trash can as an object that is tough, taking all the waste life throws at it, and yet it still stands it's ground." Mr. Bumps crumples a piece of paper and throws it away to make his point.

"This is something I want all of you to focus on. Your emotions can change the world, because it changes the way you see the world." Mr. Bumps said and Heath looked at Toralei. Is it possible that his emotions are the reason he now sees Toralei differently then his friends? Then he turned back.

"Anger, love, happiness, lust, sadness, fear, repulsion, acceptance, and so many others emotions are normal things each of us feel every day. If only for a moment." Mr. Bunps said and Toralei glanced at Heath, not wanting to admit what she felt.

"So for today's exercise, I have a photo for you to write about. Just as soon as I get the projector running." Mr. Bumps said and this time, Heath and Toralei looked at each other at the same time, and quickly looked away blushing.

"Ah, here we go." Mr. Bumps said and Toralei blinked. She expected something different. The picture was of a couch, but the back of the couch. At the top you saw the back of two heads. Both were normies, one was a female on the far right of the couch, and one was a male on the far left of the couch. There was a glow of the television, but that was all you saw. You don't know what they are watching, but that probably didn't matter.

"Not I want each of you to take out your composition notebooks, and write at least two paragraphs about what you feel is happening in the picture." Mr. Bumps said, and the writing took off.

Mr. Bumps could be really passionate about his class, but some days he really takes the creative out of creative writing. Basically the whole class was about looking at two different pictures and writing how they can be together. Toralei stopped having fun with it when she saw a picture of a burning house next to a discontinued pressure cooker. Regardless, Mr. Bumps still didn't feel as if this was something that was enough to prove his point. Because for their homework, they were supposed to write poems for two or three objects. He really wanted it to be objects so that they could be given a life by their words (or something like that). He said that if someone wanted to get extra credit, they could reverse it. Taking a person and writing a poem about how they are an object. Toralei personally thought the teacher should have said this a bit differently, but she understood what he meant.

"Bbbbrrrriiing!" The bell rang.

"Oh, I guess that is it for today class. And don't forget the poems for your homework." The teacher said, and like always, he ran out of the room before students could stop him.

"Sometimes I think he ate paste in elementary school." Toralei said and Heath nodded.

"I know what you mean. I mean, isn't there like, hundreds of people chanting so that they aren't seen as objects?" Heath said and Toralei shrugged.

"I'm only interested in protests I'm in." Toralei said and she stood up.

"Well, at least now I can take my mind off of Creative Writing and help you out." Heath said as he gathered his things.

"Well, you're really helping my F.M." Toralei said and Heath waved her off.

"Helping her is helping you, as far as I'm concerned." Heath said and he smiled at Toralei, who couldn't help but smile back.

"So, you ready to go?" Toralei said and Heath nodded and his face fell.

"Oh, no. I can see some Ghouls in the hall waiting for me." Heath said and he saw the gargoyle and vampire from earlier.

"Reow, those girls should learn how to take a hint." Toralei said and Heath glanced at her.

"What do you mean?" He asked and she giggled softly. Then, as the Ghouls were staring at Heath, she pushed the door with her tail. It made a creaking sound, and the two even started walking towards the door, but stopped when it closed.

"Was that really necessary?" Heath asked and Toralei twisted the lock with her tail.

"What, you worry like a kitten." Toralei said, and she walked over towards the back of the room.

"But you could get in trouble for locking us in here." Heath said and Toralei smiled.

"I didn't lay a hand on that door." Toralei said, and this was true. She closed and locked the door with her tail, not her hand.

"Heh, clever." Heath said and Toralei jumped up and stood on a desk.

"I am a cat." She said and he rolled his eyes.

"Still, though. Surely they will chase after the teacher, who won't be happy to find us." Heath pointed out and Toralei tilted her smile, and some light shined across her face, which made her fur look so smooth.

"He won't find us." Toralei said and Heath blinked.

"How...?" He didn't even know how to finish that thought. Toralei on the other hand, lifted the glass from one of the windows and proved them with their escape.

"I thought those only unlocked from the outside." Heath said in amazement.

"They do. But for a lot of the classrooms, I unlocked a window so that I could sneak out or sneak in whenever I wanted to." Toralei said and Heath didn't know what to think.

"Besides, it's either out the window with me... or... you could go through the school with all of those crazy Ghouls who will chase you. But eventually you should make it to the front." Toralei said and Heath bit his lip.

"I'd take the window any day." Heath said and together they crawled out and ran off into the secluded forest area.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it's characters.

Chapter 9,

Heath followed Toralei through the woods. Which wasn't exactly easy because she is a Werecat, and the woods made her kitty side a bit more active.

"Reow!" Toralei shouted happily, and she even got down on all fours and ran happily.

"Damn." Heath said with a smile on his face.

"Heh, come on slow poke! How on earth are you going to beat me to the relief route when you are dragging behind." Toralei said and it was true. Heath wasn't running as fast as he could. As a kid he learned that the forest was a dangerous place for a fire element. The entire area was full of easily flammable substances. Dead leaves, twigs, trees, it could all go up in smoke. Heath always worried about this, but it was December. The whole world was colder, and though the school didn't have much snow or frost, the forest floor still had a nice crisp step to it. He didn't fear burning the forest during this time. Well, maybe a little.

"Well, maybe I just like seeing you run." Heath shouted and Toralei turned around and looked at him. She did this to study his face for any hint of him kidding or joking. But, because she was looking at Heath, she wasn't looking at where she was going, and she tripped on a branch.

"Whoa! Ow..." Toralei uttered and Heath slowed down to a stop, and stared down at the werecat.

"Are you ok?" Heath asked, and Toralei pursed her lips. She was going to say 'of course I'm not ok, I fell genius.' But then she looked at Heath. Him with his kind eyes, worried face, and his hand held out to her; and she couldn't stay upset.

"I'm fine. Nothing is broken." Toralei said, and she took Heath's hand. He helped her us and she smiled at how warm Heath's hands were. Which made perfect sense.

"Heh, good. Now, maybe I should have asked this before, but, uh... where do you even live?" Heath asked and Toralei blushed.

"Well, there is a bus stop at the end of the forest. We take that." Toralei said, and this didn't really answer Heath's question, but he knew that Toralei would know the way to her house.

"Ok, as long as you know." Heath said and Toralei smiled. Then it seemed that both teens realized that they were holding hands, and they blushed.

"Uh..." Toralei slowly pulled her hand away, though she wanted to keep a hold of the fire element.

"Actually we are closer to the edge then I thought. I can see the bus sign." Toralei said, and she then walked off.

Heath paused as he watched her walk for a minute. He enjoyed watching her walk, but he also knew that he needed to follow her. Heath stayed about five feet behind Toralei so that he could watch her hips sway. Swish swish. And he swallowed when she suddenly stopped. He looked up and saw that she was right about the bus stop being close.

"So, how long until the next bus?" Heath asked, wondering if they missed it or not.

"Any minute now. Normally I take the bus home, and I never wait long." Toralei said and Heath nodded. A moment of awkward silence past between the two. When one went to talk, their words faltered under the gaze of the other. They were both really happy to see the green bus turn the corner and in their line of sight.

"Heh, see." Toralei said with a lazy gesture to it.

"I told you that the wait wasn't long." Toralei said, and though Heath knew she was right, he started to wonder how all of this would go down. If they could barely wait for a bus without anything to say to one another, then how will this whole baking thing work out? The bus whines when it had to stop, and Toralei pulled out her purse.

"Oh, bus fair." Heath said, and he bit his lip. He wasn't sure how much a bus ride was, but he normally didn't carry cash in his wallet.

"Hey, relax." Toralei nudged him when she said this.

"I'll pay for you. Heck, maybe my F.M. could reimbursed me." Toralei said as if it were no big deal, but Heath was still embarrassed.

"Thanks." Heath said and he rubbed the back of his neck. And that to hopefully change the subject, he asked a question that he has been wondering about.

"Hey, why do you call your mom 'F.M.' anyways?" He asked and Toralei quickly turned and stepped on the bus.

"I got the both of us." She told the bus driver, holding up a few dollar bills for them to grab.

"No skin off my teeth, kitty. As long as you and your buddy don't cause any problems, then I don't care who pays." The bus driver said and Heath thought this sounded a bit odd. He stepped on the vehicle, and he blinked when he saw that the bus driver was actually a normie.

"What, the..." Heath whispered and he turned and saw that this was a regular normie bus. Not a monster one.

"I'm here, Heath." Toralei said, still standing, and that helped Heath snap back into reality. He walked over, but part of him wanted to grab her and drag her off of the bus.

"Toralei." Heath said in a hushed panic. Toralei sat down, and pulled Heath next to her. Once they were safely seated, the driver started the bus and drove off.

"You didn't tell me that this was a normie bus. We could get in trouble. Some people in New Salem are still bothered when they see us in their town." Heath said, and Toralei kept her head down.

"I know, that. Trust me." Toralei said. She feared that one wrong look would send Heath running for the hills. They were still close enough for him to go back.

"Then why are we on this bus?" Heath asked and Toralei sighed.

"This is the same bus that I take home." Toralei said and Heath quietly panted.

"I just don't get why you ride it. Doesn't it make you feel like an outcast, to be the only monster on this bus?" Heath asked and Toralei closed her eyes.

"A little. But I always feel like an outcast." Toralei half-whispered and Heath blinked. He looked at her, specifically so that he could look her in the eyes, but they were still closed.

"Oh... well... surely that can't be true." Heath said, trying to be helpful. Toralei, opened her eye, rolled them, then looked out the window. Heath saw her reflection and he thought that Toralei was about to cry.

"Well, most of the students at Monster High avoid me because I am a bad influence. Which I learned to deal with, I just hung out with the other trouble makers." Toralei's eyes really watered then.

"But then there were times when I helped your friends save the day. Or so to speak. And then the bad kids stopped hanging out with me. They thought that I was too good, and that I must be a informant for the principal." Toralei paused as a tear fell down her cheek and she quickly wiped that away.

"So yeah, I do feel like an outcast on the bus. But so what? I feel like an outcast around people who even recognize me, and especially around those who know me." Toralei said and Heath took a deep breath.

"You know, it's kind of funny. I know that my friends are really accepting of others, and that's great. But because they know me, they try to be extra careful around me. Because I sometimes get excited and then my flame comes out, and I just... burn things." Heath said and Toralei shifted slightly.

"It is too personal if I ask you how you do control your flame?" Toralei asked and Heath glanced at her.

"Oh, most of it is just concentrating on it." Heath said and Toralei quickly glanced at him.

"That's it?" Toralei asked and Heath hesitated.

"Well, not the only thing. But I'm a fire element. And so that kinda makes our flame part of our emotions. It's a way that we can express ourselves. It's not perfect, or whatever, but it's true. So some fire elements have an easier time controlling their flame, because they don't get very emotional." Heath said and Toralei turned to him.

"Are your parents like that?" She asked and Heath shrugged. They past through the town of New Salem, and some people got on, and some people got off, but most of them stared at the werecat and the fire element.

"My dad is pretty cold, he can control his flame really well. It turns out that my mother was pretty energetic, like I am. She learned how to control her flame, and she is still crazy." Heath said and Toralei smiled.

"So I guess you don't need to change in order to control your powers." Toralei said and Heath smiled at her. The two monsters noticed that at one stop, all of the normie got off of the bus, and Heath paused.

"Is this the last stop?" Heath asked, and he started to stand. Toralei reaches up and grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back down.

"No, but this is the last stop in town." Toralei said and Heath looked at her.

"Wow, so I thought you lived in town." Heath said and Toralei bit her lip.

"The house is still in the city limits, yes. But it's secluded from the town." She said and Heath thought that this was odd. Toralei lives in the Normie town, but she lived away from them? That didn't make a lot of sense. Sure a family or two of monsters moved into the new cul-de-sac being built, and they had their problems. But Heath was still getting red flags at all of this.

"Ok, kitty." The bus driver said, and her ears perked up, which Heath thought was adorable.

"Here is the gas station." The driver said, parking the bus at the stop.

"Now it's probably a good idea to take that one with you." The driver turned around to point at Heath, and Toralei nodded.

"Well, I'm just glad that you let us on the bus, Paula." Toralei said, and the driver actually smiled sweetly.

"No problem Toralei. It's always a pleasure to help out Christine's girl." Paula said and Toralei chuckled.

"See you tomorrow." Toralei said and She and Heath got off the bus.

"Cool, I didn't know that you were friends with the bus driver." Heath said and Toralei shrugged.

"She knows the F.M. Heath. Paula and Christine have been friends since they were our age." Toralei explained and Heath nodded.

"So, um..." Heath wasn't sure how to say this.

"Where is your house?" Heath asked and Toralei blinked.

"It's just down the road. First house on the left." Toralei said, pointing in the direction, and the two started walking.

"So, I talked about my parents. What about yours?" Heath asked and Toralei struggled internally.

"What about them?" Toralei asked and Heath shrugged.

"Oh, I don't know." Heath admitted.

"Maybe I just want to be a little prepared for when I meet them, in like 60 seconds." Heath said, and Toralei seemed to relax at this.

"Oh, well, Christine doesn't seem to understand the concept of personal space. She will probably poke and prod at you, especially if the contact makes a noise that she enjoys." Toralei said and Heath smiled.

"Heh, ok. That gives me a pretty good idea." Heath said and Toralei tucked some fur behind her ear and gave a nervous chuckle. Heath did have an amazing smile.

"So, what about your dad?" Heath asked.

"Oh, well I doubt Harry will be home just yet. But- oh, there is my house." Toralei pointed to the building. It kind of reminded Heath of a home on a southern plantation. It had a porch, a second floor landing, dozens of potted plants, an American flag hanging out for all to see, and a bronze crucifix on the front door, just beneath the knocker.

"It... looks nice. But it's different from what I imagined." Heath said as they walked towards the building.

"Is that a bad thing." Toralei asked and Heath shook his head.

"No, it's not that. I just feel like this wouldn't be your home. You seem a bit more..." Heath paused as he tried to find the right words, and Toralei expected to be insulted.

"Complex." Heath decoded this word was the best, but it still through Toralei off.

"What do you mean?" She asked and Heath put his hands in his pockets.

"Well this house is like stepping back in time. To a place where the whole world seems simple. But you're not simple, your complex. I would imagine that your house would be pretty eclectic and complex as well." Heath said, and Toralei smiled at him.

"Ok, well, why don't you wait out here, and I'll go get the F.M." Toralei said, and Heath nodded. She walked in the house, and Heath sighed as he watched her tail switch and her hip sway so majestically. After a moment, the door swung opened, and out stepped...

"A normie?" Heath whispered as the shirt woman ran over to him, and started shaking his hand.

"Oh, my dear, you must be Heath. I have heard so much about you, and I am just so excited that you could help us out today. Aren't we excited, Toralei, of course we are excited. I mean, you are just perfect, darling, just perfect." The woman said, and Heath stared at the human.

"Uh, thank you." Heath said, still stunned.

"Oh, I bet you're hungry aren't you. I know that growing boys need to eat, eat, eat, to keep up with all of the calories that they are burning. Does your monster breed grow? Do you burn more calories then others? Whatever, everyone eats, and I am more then happy to feed you." The woman said, and Heath took a deep breath. She really enjoyed talking.

"I'm sorry, but uh... who are you?" Heath asked. He was here to help Toralei's mother, but he was being ambushed by this random normie.

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear. I'm Toralei's mother, Christine." She said, and Heath blinked, and glanced at Toralei, who had stayed beside the front door.

"I'm just so glad that you agreed to help me with my baking. You are such a peach, well not really, but you know what I mean. I am just so grateful." Christine said, and she gave Heath a big hug. As this happened Heath looked at Toralei, and Toralei looked away.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it's characters.

Chapter 10,

"Here, Heath." Christine said, and she handed Heath a metal pan with a few unbaked cookies on it.

"Get comfortable and get started whenever you are ready. I'll check on you in a few minutes to see how it's going." Christine said before walking away. They had opened the garage door and had Heath standing in the freezing concrete area. It felt a bit weird, but he had to admit, it did seem pretty fire proof.

"I thought that maybe I should get you something to drink." Toralei said, poking her head into view and she held up a glass of water.

"Thanks." Heath said. He wasn't sure how much he would have to help so he sat on the ground and he heated up his hands to bake the cookies. Toralei stepped into the garage carefully, not out of fear, but as if she did something wrong.

"I guess I'll leave it here on the desk for when you want it, and let you be." Toralei said as she put down the glass.

"You don't have to leave, you know." Heath said and Toralei bit her lip.

"Ok." She said softly.

"So, can I ask?" Heath wondered.

"About what?" Toralei asked, hoping that it wasn't what she thought.

"Christine." Heath said.

"Oh, right, her." Toralei said and Heath nodded.

"Yeah. I know that you call her F.M. or Christine, but I still thought that she would be a werecat." Heath said and Toralei sighed.

"I call Christine 'F.M.' because she is my foster mother." Toralei said, and Heath's flame died.

"Are you an orphan?" Heath said and Toralei couldn't look at him.

"Ever since I was 6." She said and Heath shook his head in bewilderment.

"Wh... uh, what happened?" Heath said and Toralei paused. If she was staring into his deep eyes, then she couldn't lie. She almost told him her whole back story, but her walls were too tall for that.

"You know, Meowlody and Purrsephone don't even know that. I'm not going to turn around and tell you on your first visit." Toralei said, and Heath blinked.

First visit? Does that mean that there will be more?

Heath thought but that wasn't what he needed to focus on now.

"Ok, I get that it's a touchy subject, I'm sorry." Heath said honestly, and Toralei smiled at him. Rocco was more persistent in pushing Toralei to tell him what happened. He would never be this calm and understanding with her.

"Thanks." Toralei said, and Heath smiled at her.

"But still though. I don't know why your hiding the fact that you live with normies." Heath said and Toralei rolled her eyes.

"Please, people hate me enough. If I just came out and admitted to everyone that I was living with normies, then it would be worse." Toralei said and Heath paused.

"Ok, so what about that one Halloween. You, me, and the others left to go retaliate on the Normie school. If you live with Normies, then why would you want to go along with us?" Heath asked.

"Well, first of all, a kitty can't change her stripes." Toralei chuckled at the saying, but Heath paused a little at the word 'stripes'.

"And second of all, I wasn't at Monster High for a lot time. So I didn't care if I got kicked out of the school and this home." Toralei said, and this set off a red flag for Heath.

"What does that mean?" Heath asked and Toralei shrugged.

"Well, I'm only allowed to go to Monster High as long as I have this foster family. Traditionally Normies aren't allowed to raise Monsters, but they made an exception." Toralei said and Heath blinked.

"I don't see why they would allow that." Heath said and Toralei rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well, um... you see... Um, when Headmistress Bloodgood found me. I was actually in jail." Toralei said and Heath's flame died.

"What?" He asked and she sighed.

"Technically Juvie, but still. Bloodgood made a deal with the people there. Because I was a monster, and needed to be at a school for monsters, and not in a human jail." Toralei said and Heath nodded.

"But why a human family?" Heath asked and Toralei sighed.

"Bloodgood already has a few students living with her. I stayed there for a bit, but the only place for me to sleep was the couch. She knew that a growing monster needed some more space where they could expand their mind and prosper. So she asked around some of the local monster families. No one wanted to take in a werecat. And the few families who did, well, didn't want a jail bird. So Bloodgood took a chance and asked a few families in the human community. No takers. But someone recommended Christine and Harry. They wanted to adopt a baby, but they have been waiting over two years on the waitlist. So Bloodgood came over, talked to them about raising me while I was at Monster High. Eventually they agreed, and so I live here now." Toralei said and Heath realized that his flame went out, and so he turned it on again.

"So what happens now that you are living with them?" Heath asked her, and Toralei shrugged.

"Well, it is a packaged deal, you know. If Christine and Harry decide that I am too much of a handful, and they don't want me in their house anymore, then Bloodgood may not be able to find me another foster family. Which means, I wouldn't be allowed to go to Monster High and I would be sent back to Juvie. But on the other hand, if I were to get expelled from school, then I wouldn't be allowed to live with Christine and Harry, and then I would get sent to Juvie." Toralei said and Heath glanced at her.

"So, that confuses me a little. I mean if you need to be so well behaved in order to stay out of Juvie, then why are you still acting out in school?" Heath said and Toralei shrugged.

"I didn't mind Juvie. That's where I met Meowlody and Purrsephone, after all." Toralei said and Heath glanced at her.

"Still though, don't you want to stay at school?" Heath asked and Toralei sighed.

"My situation is a little like a double edged sword. On one hand, I like being able to mix with other monsters and I like having a Foster Family. But on the other hand, some students drive me crazy, and I try to teach them a lesson. And also, there isn't anything necessarily wrong with Christine and Harry, but it seems that because I live with them, I am their property." Toralei said and Heath scrunched his nose.

"Property?" Heath asked and Toralei sighed.

"Probably the wrong word, actually. But I get the feeling that Harry only allowed me into his home because Christine wanted to be a mother so bad. She is nice and everything, but sometimes she can be so desperate to bond with me, that it is a little off putting." Toralei said, and Heath didn't feel like he should continue down this road.

"So, does anyone else know?" Heath asked and Toralei sighed.

"Dumb, and Dumber, and Rocko." Toralei said and Heath bit his lip.

"And now me." He said and Toralei blushed.

"True." She said and Heath smiled.

"You know, I should have you over to my house one day." Heath said and Toralei blinked.

"What?" She asked and Heath nodded.

"I'm serious, you should totally come over. I mean not today, but still." Heath said, and Toralei couldn't help but chuckle.

"Very nice, I will. But I agree tonight wouldn't be ideal. Hey, maybe if it's ok with you, we can hang out when you're done baking." Toralei said and Heath smiled.

"I'd like that. What did you have planned?" Heath asked and Toralei shrugged.

"How about a movie? They are doing a flashback night at the theater, so they are playing a bunch of classics." Toralei said.

"Oh, cool, I wonder if they are playing Gremlins. I just love those furry little guys." Heath said and Toralei giggled at him.

"Then we will see a movie?" Toralei said and Heath nodded.

"Sounds great." Heath said and Toralei nodded.

"Ok, I'll go tell the F.M." Toralei said as she walked away and Heath smiled until a thought occurred to him.

"Hey, how will we get to the theater?" Heath called out.

"Oh, I have a car, we can take that." Toralei called out before she entered the house and Heath paused at this response.

"Then why did we take the bus?" He wondered out loud.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it's characters.

Chapter 11,

"I've finished another batch." Heath said and he walked over to Christine.

"Thank you, Heath. You are doing some impressive work." Christine said, grabbing a spatula and taking the cookies off of the tray and onto a plate to cool.

"Is there any more cookies to make?" Heath asked and Christine nodded.

"Just a few more. But you are welcomed to a few cookies when you are done." Christine said and Heath smiled.

"Sizzling, a- hey..." Heath looked around.

"Where did Toralei go?" Heath asked and Christine clicked her tongue.

"Well, we had a couple of cakes to make for the fundraiser, but we couldn't figure out how you could bake them. So I asked Toralei to take the batter we already made, plus a few baking pans, to a friend of mine. She can bake the cakes and bring them to the fundraiser." Christine said and Heath nodded. He didn't enjoy the thought of being alone with normies he didn't know.

"Heh, well, how long will she be gone?" Heath asked.

"I'm sure that she'll be along in a few minutes. Why don't you sit down, Heath, I'm that all of this baking must be wearing you out." Christine said and Heath saw a metal folding chair, and he sat there. Which was better then the wicker chair he could have chosen.

"You know, I have been wondering when we were going to meet you." Christine said and Heath blinked.

"Really?" Heath asked and Christine nodded.

"Yes, of course. You must be very close to my dear Toralei." Christine said and Heath blushed as he remembered the way he danced with Toralei.

"I am." Heath said bashfully and Christine chuckled.

"I know. Whenever I ask her about her day, she always talks about you." Christine said with a giggle, but Heath was too shocked for words.

"I feel like I know you already, Heath. I remember Toralei telling me how wonderful you are. A natural at Skultimat Rollermaze. And how you can really light up a party. How you are always willing to lend a helping hand. You sure are a knight in shining armor." Christine said and Heath still couldn't believe his ears.

"Well, thank you." He said and Christine giggled.

"It's been way too long since Toralei brought friends over." Christine said and Heath looked down at the tray in his hands

"You don't say?" Heath said, though he was getting some major red flags.

"I'm sure that you already know about the fight Toralei has with her two kitty friends. I hope that's not a bad thing to call then, I just could never recall their names." Christine said, suddenly worried about being rude.

"Well, technically they are Werecats, so that would be a bit better then saying 'kitty friends' but you'd have to ask Toralei if it's rude or not." Heath admit and Christine blushed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I suppose I am still getting use to this monster thing." Christine apologized.

"Is it odd to have a monster living in your house?" Heath asked and Christine looked at Heath, as if she were deciding how honest she was gonna be.

"You seem like a good kid. So let me tell you something." Christine said and she sat down at the wicker chair next to Heath.

"So, I never thought that I would be a foster mother to a monster. I knew about werewolves, but I didn't even know werecats existed. My husband and I were kind of fish out of water." Christine giggled softly and Heath gave a sympathetic smile.

"Anyways, Toralei was incredibly stand-offish at first. She would barely talk or eat or spend time with us at all." Christine said and she leaned back and grabbed the bowl of cookie dough off the counter and started plopping the contents on the pan.

"So what changed?" Heath asked and Christine smiled.

"Well, Toralei was at this Valentine dance, and she fell in this... God awful crud. We could smell her before she got home. We took care of her and treated her, and soon she didn't smell at all. I guess she was pretty grateful. She started doing her homework in the kitchen and doing chores around the house and sometimes helped me cook dinner." Christine said and Heath's eyes widened.

"Oh, I remember that. Draculaura's 1,600 birthday, when Valentine was there." Heath said and Christine blinked.

"Maybe it wasn't Valentine's Day." Christine mumbled.

"Actually Draculaura's birthday is on Valentine's Day. So we throw a big party to celebrate both." Heath said and Christine smiled.

"What a coincidence. Can you imagine being born on Valentine's Day?" Christine said and Heath smirked a little. He didn't have the heart to tell this normie how Valentine created Valentine's Day for Draculaura's birthday.

"You know, I think it's nice that you were able to help Toralei with her problem." Heath said and Christine smiled.

"I hope that we can see each other again. You seem to be a good influence on my Toralei." Christine said and Heath blushed.

"Well, if you need more help baking, don't be afraid to ask." Heath said and Christine chuckled.

"I would love it if you could come to dinner." Christine said and Heath blinked.

"Oh, I don't know." Heath said and Christine finished putting cookie dough on the pan.

"I would really like it too." Christine said but Heath was still hesitant.

"I would have to ask my folks if it is ok." Heath said and Christine clapped her hands in joy.

"Oh, goodie, I hope we can do it soon. The repair man for our oven should be here in a few days. So you won't have to help me in the kitchen again." Christine said and Heath smiled.

"Actually, I don't mind. It's nice that some people can appreciate my flame." Heath said and Christine went ahead and patted him on the arm.

"Well, we really do appreciate your help, Heath. In fact why don't you have a cookie right now. I think these taste better then traditional oven-baked cookies." Christine said and Heath smiled as she him one. Heath put the tray of cookies on his lap and took the cookie from her. He bit into the hot cookie and the chocolate nearly dripped onto his shirt. Christine was right, these cookies were very good. It had an extra nutty flavor and was crisp without being smoky.

"I'm back." Toralei said as she stepped into the house and she stood next to Heath.

"Taking a break?" Toralei asked and Heath smiled.

"You have got to try this." Heath said and he lifted his cookie up to her lips and she went ahead and took a bite.

"Mmm, that is good." She said. Heath smiled at her, and she smiled back, and then they laughed together. Christine decided not to say anything about this scene, because she didn't want to ruin the moment by telling them how cute they looked.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it's characters.

Chapter 12,

"Oh, Heath you have done a wonderful job." Christine praised the flamehead.

"Heh, it was nothing, really." Heath said, still not use to people wanting him to use his fire.

"Nothing or not, sunflower, we really appreciated it." Toralei said and Heath smirked.

"Does this mean your ready to go to the movies, tiger lily?" Heath asked and Toralei giggled.

"Only if you don't mind being seen with a girl who could kick your butt." Toralei said and Heath rolled his eyes.

"Please. Why would I care about that when I could literally bring the house down?" Heath said and Christine chuckled at them.

"Oh, you two are too much. What's playing tonight?" Christine asked and Toralei shrugged.

"Not sure. It's classic's night so maybe they will play Gone with the Wind or something like that." Toralei said and Heath smiled.

"Or maybe Frankenstein, but let's not tell Frankie about that. She probably wouldn't like it." Heath said and Christine rolled her eyes.

"Oh please, Christmas is right around the corner. If anything it will probably be White Christmas for a classics night." Christine said and Toralei grabbed her keys.

"Fine, I'll text you when we get there." Toralei said and Christine nodded.

"Ok, see you two later." Christine said and the two monsters walked out of the house. As they headed to the house, Heath recalled how they had to ride the bus earlier.

"So, is it ok for me to ask?" Heath asked when they approached the orange bug.

"Ask what?" Toralei inquired as she unlocked the car.

"Why don't you drive your car to school?" Heath asked and Toralei stared at him for a moment.

"Oh, that..." Toralei hesitated and she opened her door.

"No." Toralei said and Heath got confused.

"No?" He asked and they both got into the car.

"No you can not ask." Toralei said with a cheeky smile and Heath chuckled.

"Well ok then. I guess we better get a move on." Heath said and Toralei started the car.

"So sunflower, are you sorry that you basically spent the whole day with me?" Toralei asked.

"Actually, with the whole letter business at school, you might be the best person to hang out with." Heath said and Toralei gave a nervous chuckle as she tucked a little bit of fur behind her ear.

"What, just because I don't swoon the second you step into the door?" Toralei asked and Heath rolled his eyes.

"Come on, tiger lily, you are the only person treating me the same. At first people avoided me, then people can't get enough of me. And not only that, but my friends keep teasing me because some girl is in love with me." Heath said and Toralei glanced at Heath, but kept her eyes on the road.

"You make it sound like a girl loving you is a bad thing." Toralei commented and Heath paused. He wasn't really expecting that response.

"Technically there is nothing wrong with love and loving someone. It's just that my friends make me feel like someone loving me is such a crazy idea. Almost makes me feel like I'm too much of a freak for someone to care about me." Heath said this but his speech got a bit more silent with each word he spoke.

"Heath?" Toralei asked and he looked at her.

"What?" He asked and Toralei took a deep breath.

"Do you like yourself." Toralei asked and Heath stared at her.

"Of course." He responded after a moment.

"Hm." Toralei was silent after that.

"Well, I mean, I guess if I had to change something about myself, I would want to make myself funnier. I want to make people laugh, but instead I just come off as annoying." Heath said and Toralei glanced at him, but nothing more.

"If you make people laugh, you make them smile. Which means that you're making people happy. That's all I really want. I want to make people happy." Heath said and Toralei tucked some fur behind her ear.

"For what it's worth, I'm happy we get to see a movie together." Toralei said and Heath was glad that she finally said something.

"Really?" Heath asked and Toralei smirked.

"Well, you may not be Hollywood's finest, but yes I am. I haven't seen a movie at the theater in forever. It's one of my favorite activities, but I hate doing it alone." Toralei said and Heath smiled a little.

"It's your favorite? I'm surprised you don't see more movies with Meowlody and Purrsephone or even Rocco." Heath said and Toralei sighed.

"The girls and I aren't really on speaking terms right now. And as for Rocco, well... it's complicated." Toralei said.

"More complicated then a girl in love with me, sending letters to be read on the radio, and causing a whole school of girls to chase after me?" Heath asked and Toralei smiled and scoffed.

"Ok, well, I told Rocco that we would talk at the next scream match, but... I'm mad at him and he doesn't trust me." Toralei said and Heath thought about this.

"So, wait, um, are you two still, you know, dating?" Heath asked and Toralei took a deep breath.

"Well... we had this really big fight, and I thought we broke up. But then the next day I was at the mall talking to a bunch of guys from the drama group and Rocco saw me. He got mad because he thought I was flirting and therefore cheating on him. So we haven't really been talking lately. That is until Rocco and I bumped into each other. He wants to talk, because we didn't really break up, but we haven't really been together. That's why I agreed to see him at the scream match. So we could settle things once and for all." Toralei said and Heath nodded a little.

"Do you want to get together with him?" Heath asked and Toralei hesitated.

"No... yes... I'm not sure... I guess that's complicated too." Toralei said and Heath stared at her without speaking.

"What, you think the silent treatment will work on me like it did you?" Toralei asked and Heath shrugged.

"Ugh, fine, you annoying jerk." Toralei said and Heath smirked.

"Since Rocco and I stopped seeing each other, I have found myself becoming emotionally attached to someone new." Toralei admitted and Heath blinked.

"You have a crush on someone else?" He asked and Toralei sighed.

"I just... have... a thing for him is all." Toralei said and quietly.

"Does he know?" Heath asked and Toralei tucked some fur behind her ear as she chuckled nervously.

"Of course not." She replied.

"Do I know him?" Heath asked and Toralei was quiet for the longest time. This conversation was making them both nervous. Toralei knew she couldn't keep all of this honestly up. And Heath grew more apprehensive with each question he asked.

"Yes, you do." Toralei finally admitted and Heath took a deep breath. Part of him wanted to tell her that she should fight for whatever she wants. But on the other hand, Heath was almost jealous at the knowledge that Toralei likes someone that he knew. Which didn't make much sense because he liked Abbey. And yet he loves the way he and Toralei dances together.

"You know, Heath, I don't really want to talk about this. I just want to focus on tonight, and how much fun we have together." Toralei said and Heath smiled.

"We really has fun dancing together. Or at least I did." Heath said and Toralei chuckled nervously and tucked some fur behind her ear.

"I, uh, had fun too." Toralei said and Heath blushed softly.

"You know maybe we could go dancing like that again." Heath said and Toralei blinked.

"I don't know." Toralei hesitated, and Heath paused.

"You're such a wonderful dancer." Heath admitted.

"Really?" Toralei said and Heath nodded.

"I think so." Heath said and Toralei blushed.

"At least someone does." Toralei muttered and Heath looked at her.

"What do you mean?" Heath asked and Toralei shrugged.

"Oh, it's just... well... I love dancing. But it seems like anytime I perform, I only get a few polite claps." Toralei said and Heath remembered how she danced with Frankie, Draculaura, and Clawdeen on stage and basically no one clapped:

"I would like to be a professional dancer. Or an actor who focuses on dancing. But if I can't even get a decent applause then how can I ever go pro?" Toralei thought out loud, and Heath stared at her.

"Sometimes I think that I need to take that dream, put it in a box and tuck it away. After all the worst thing we can do is obsess over how our lives didn't go as we hoped." Toralei said and Heath sighed. Toralei glanced at him, and it looked as if Heath had recalled a painful memory.

"Well, at least that's something I can agree with." Heath said and they drove in silence for a few minute, and Toralei pulled into the parking lot of the theater. Toralei was feeling uncomfortable with Heath's silence. She wasn't use to it, and she started to worry that somehow she crossed a line with him. Toralei parked the car and turned off the car. Toralei knew that she was bad for Heath, and she cared about Heath too much to force him to be with her.

"You know, I knows drove all this way. But if you don't-" the door opened and shut. This really surprised Toralei and she hung her head.

I guess I really did hurt Heath. Why am I such a self-absorbed jerk?

Toralei thought and she almost started the car back up, but she stopped when she heard a noise. She looked up and saw Heath knocking on her window. Toralei couldn't help but smile at him being there. Heath opened her door and he held out his hand to her.

"Would you do me the honor of allowing me to escort you, sweet tiger lily?" Heath asked nicely and Toralei blushed.

"I think I can do that." Toralei said and she accepted his hand. She stepped out of the car and Heath closed the door.

And a small moment passed when Heath and Toralei realized that they were still holding hands. Heath waited for Toralei to pull away. Toralei waitws for Heath to pull away. But Heath didn't want to pull away. And Toralei didn't want to pull away. They smile at each other since they knew they wanted to hold hands. Toralei gently squeezed Heath's hand, and Heath guided Toralei towards the building.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it's characters.  
Chapter 13,  
"One large popcorn, small nip-corn, and two medium drinks." The young man said.  
"Man, it's so cool that you guys have catnip popcorn. Do you get a lot of werecats in here?" Heath asked and the kid smiled.  
"Just Toralei. Sometimes she'll bring Meowlody and Purrsephone. Every once in a while we will get another monster, but it's normally just her." The boy said and Heath blinked.  
"Then why do you serve the nip-corn?" Heath asked.  
"Well, to be honest, I make the nip-corn. I just persuaded my boss to sell it here so Toralei can have it." The kid said.  
"No way, how did you do that?" Heath asked.  
"Long story, short? Either they risk her having something here and gets sick or even dies. Or she could get upset and sue the establishment for not following through on our non-discriminatory policy." He said.  
"Wow, you must really like Toralei." Heath said, getting a bit suspicious.  
"Yeah, she's great. I love getting her opinion on my experiments." He said. Heath took a moment to glance behind him. Toralei was still getting the tickets for the movie, and he was the only person in line.

"What kind of experiments do you do, uh... I didn't see your name." Heath said and the employee took a step to the left and pointed at his little name tag.

"Jim. My name is Jim. I volunteer at the shelter and I really want to create a line of food that helps the underweight animals want to eat. A lot of them are cats, and I know that stray cats develop a evolved sense of taste. Typically going for food that is higher in protein. But I thought maybe if the food actually tasted better, then it could help regulate their weight." Jim said and Heath nodded.

"I think I get it, your like a vet-chef." Heath said and Jim shrugged.

" in a manner of speaking." Jim said and then his eyes turned to the door and he smiled.

"Hi Tori." Jim sad and Toralei giggles when she walked over.

"Hey Jimmy." Toralei said and she smiled at Heath.

"What movie are you guys going to see?" Jim asked and Toralei handed Heath his ticket.

"We came for classic's night. So we get to see this, 'It's a Wonderful Life' movie." Toralei said and Jim smiled.

"That's a good one. I think it's a really great movie to watch when you feel like you have done nothing with your life." Jim said.

"Better stop there Jimmy 'cause I haven't seen it." Toralei said.

"Yeah, I haven't seen it either." Heath said.

"What? It's such a classic Christmas film. Heck, I think it'd be a classic film even if it wasn't set in the Christmas holiday." Jim said.

"Sorry, Jimmy. I still haven't see it." Toralei said and Jim sighed and looked up into the air.

"I am so misunderstood." Jim said with a smile and Toralei hooked her arm with Heath's.

"I can text you my reaction later." Toralei offered and Jim giggled.

"I'd like that, girl. Hope you two enjoy the movie." Jim said and Toralei giggled and she led Heath towards their movie.

"So, Jim seems nice." Heath said and Toralei smiled.

"I'm glad you think so, since he's my best friend." Toralei said, and then she saw something that made her face fall.

"What's wrong?" Heath asked and Toralei groaned.

"Those two girls by the trash can are the Pearl sisters." Toralei whispered.

"The ones pretending not to smoke?" Heath asked and Toralei nodded.

"They don't really like me." Toralei said and Heath blinked.

"What do you mean?" Heath asked, but unfortunately, the Pearl sisters answered his question.

"Uh oh, here comes alley cat." The tall one said.

"Don't patronize me, Sue, I smelt alley cat before she walked into the building." The short one said.

"I'm sorry Peg. You don't need to have a sensitive sense of smell to know alley cat is coming." Sue said.

"Boy, I don't know how you can stand so close to that mess." Peg said to Heath.

"Yes, hot stuff. Perhaps you should ditch the garbage and hang out with people who've used a bar of soap before." Sue said. Toralei could tell that Heath was getting angry, but she still had her arm hooked with his, and they walked past the sisters and into their movie.

"Hey, hey, wait." Heath said, when no one could see them.

"What?" Toralei asked and Heath sighed.

"What? What was with those girls? I'm surprised that you let them say those things. I think you smell great, so I don't understand why they say differently." Heath said and Toralei smiled.

"You think I smell nice?" She asked, holding her hands behind her back.

"Well, uh..." Heath blushed, then cleared his throat. He couldn't say what he thought, so instead he nodded to convey the message.

"That's sweet." Toralei said with a blush of her own; then she decided to tell Heath about the sisters.

"After Valentines Day, when I fell in that pit, the humans in this town started calling me alley cat, because it smelled like I hadn't bathed in my life. At first I didn't care, because I knew the smell was still there. Once I was cured, I noticed that some people still said it." Toralei explained.

"People like the Pearl sisters?" Heath asked.

"Yeah. It hurt because they were purposely being mean to me. Pearl sisters still do it, as you can see, but others stopped after I got in a few little cat fights." Toralei said.

"Then why do the Pearl sisters still bully you?" Heath asked and Toralei sighed.

"Because they know that they're untouchable. Their father is the sheriff in town, and I know he'll throw me in juvenile detention if I give his daughters so much as a glare." Toralei said and Heath glanced behind him. Toralei's life was more complicated then he originally expected.

"I remember that man. He tried to do the Trick-or-Treatment on my cousin Holt. He certainly didn't care that he was innocent." Heath recalled and Toralei nodded.

"Yep, and his daughters are worse." Toralei said and Heath bit his lip.

"Is there anyway I can help?" Heath asked and Toralei smiled.

"Hey, I'm like plastic fruit. I don't bruise easily. I just forgot that Sue is dating the guy who runs the projector." Toralei said and even though he loved her smile, he didn't feel better.

"Now come on, let's enjoy this movie before it start- oh, shoot." Toralei said looking down.

"What's up?" Heath asked.

"I forgot to grab straws for our drinks." Toralei said and she straightened her back.

"I'll go get them." Heath said, before Toralei had the chance to say the same exact thing.

"Really?" Toralei asked, surprised that he beat her to the punch.

"Yeah, if you don't mind finding the seats, that is." Heath said and Toralei smiled at how cute he was.

"Ok." Toralei reached over and grabbed his popcorn and soda.

"Be right back Heath said, running off and Toralei walked in the theater and sat down.

"Ooh, abandoning alley cat already, hot stuff?" Peg asked when Heath passed by the Pearl sisters.

"Nah, I bet he's getting a gas mask so he can still enjoy the movie." Sue said and Heath's hands curled into fists. He hates how mean they were to his Toralei and that she couldn't do anything about it. He kept his mouth shut, which was hard.

"Forget something?" Jim asked when he saw Heath walking towards him.

"I wish I could forget those loud mouths in the hall." Heath muttered and Jim blinked.

"Oh, the Pearl sisters. Yeah, they are a rotten pair." Jim said and Heath shook his head.

"Isn't there any way to make them back off?" Heath asked and Jim sighed.

"I don't know. People are afraid of being thrown in jail, or worse." Jim said.

"Worse, how?" Heath asked.

"Well, the only kids who aren't afraid of the Pearl sisters, are the kids who get arrested all the time. And the sisters turned those kids into their little army. The sisters would send them out to destroy/hurt any building or even a person. Their dad lets it go because he finds no evidence that his children were there." Jim said and Heath sighed.

"No wonder Toralei won't fight back." Heath muttered.

"Yeah, well, at least she has friends like us to stay by her side." Jim said, and Heath saw a container of straws and picked up two of them.

"It doesn't feel like that's enough." Heath said sadly and he walked towards his movie again.

"Yoo-hoo, hot stuff." Sue said sweetly.

"Do you have a lighter, sugar?" Peg asked. Heath looked at them, they both had unlit cigarettes in their mouths and were standing cheek to cheek so both could be lit at the same time.

"Shouldn't you wait for projector boy to do that?" Heath asked, feeling like it was inappropriate.

"Oh, darling. Kurt is still working for the moment, and we can't be without nicotine." Sue said.

"Yeah, we got a doctors note and everything." Peg said and Heath softly scoffed at these two. Forcing a doctor to 'prescribe' nicotine as if they needed it.

"Well, if it's for medical reasons. Hold still." Heath said with a smirk and they puckered their lips as if they were about to kiss him, with the cigarettes in their mouths.

Heath held up his pinkie to the cigarettes, which confused the girls at first. Then Heath turned up the heat, and his pinkie and his hair lit up, and the girls stood in shock. Heath made sure both cigarettes were lit, and then he turned off his flame.

"If you really can't live without nicotine, then maybe you should switch to patches. Then you won't have to worry about having a lighter or not." Heath said and he walked away. The girls remained frozen for another 30 seconds and they they screamed and ran out of the theater. Only Jim witnessed their departure l, and he couldn't help but be impressed with Heath.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it’s characters.

Chapter 14,

The movie ended and the people exited the theater. Heath and Toralei held hands as they walked back to Toralei’s car.

“Man that movie was bonkers. I can’t even imagine the impact I’ve had on other people.” Heath said.

“Yeah? I bet you’d be surprised what you have done? You’ve been good to a lot of people.” Toralei said and Heath rubbed the back of his neck.

“You think so?” Heath asked and Toralei nodded.

“I do. At least you’ve helped more people then I have.” Toralei said and Heath blinked at her.

“What are you saying?” Heath asked and Toralei shrugged.

“I’m saying that people would miss you if you disappeared, because you’re a good monster. As for me, I doubt anyone would notice if I went missing for a month.” Toralei said and Heath gasped softly at this comment. He wasn’t exactly sure what to say right now. If he just said that he would miss her, she wouldn’t believe him. But he couldn’t drop the subject either.

“Hey... do you have to be home right away? I’d like to take you somewhere, if that’s ok.” Heath said. Toralei eyed him, and looked down at her phone.

“It’s getting late. Shouldn’t you be getting home soon?” Toralei asked and Heath smiled brightly.

“Maybe, but I texted my folks earlier. They know I left to help you and your mom and that we might hang out afterwards. We can spend half an hour or so alone.” Heath said and Toralei bit her lip.

“Ok.” Toralei said softly.

“Any chance I can drive? Not sure you’d be willing to go if I simply told you where we were going.” Heath said and Toralei chuckled and handed him her keys.

“I know you have your license, but wreak my car and I’ll say you stole my keys.” Toralei said, smirking.

“Fair enough.” Heath said as they climbed into the car.

Heath drove in silence for a moment. At first he was concerned at the fact that Toralei wasn’t speaking, but every time he looked over at her she was smiling. A simple, small smile that let Heath know that she was blissfully happy from just being with him. Heath wanted to tell Toralei just how beautiful he thought she was. He resisted because if he were to say anything, it would snap Toralei back to reality. No, Heath wanted to remember the way Toralei looked right now.

The gentle way her eyes lazily gazed out the window as the scenery changed; the way she grabbed the door handle, more out of habit than anything else; then occasional hum she made whenever a new thought popped into her mind; but overall, he wanted to remember her smile. It was unlike any other smile he’d come to know; so soft and content. So Heath didn’t ruin this sight by speaking. Instead he soaked up every second he could of this image.

“The beach? Oh, no, no, no, I hate the beach.” Toralei said when Heath parked the car and she took a look around.

“It won’t be so bad, come on.” Heath said, getting out of the car.

“I have fur, Heath. All of the water and sand will mess me up for days.” Toralei hissed our and Heath smirked.

“You’re rougher then that. You survived that eternal body odor incident. A little sand is nothing to you.” Heath said. Toralei took a moment to think over his words and stepped out of the car with a sigh.

“I guess we’d better take off our shoes then. It’s not really easier to walk on sand with heels on.” Toralei said. They removed their shoes and put them in the car.

“Ok, come on.” Heath said gently and he reached over and intertwined their fingers. Part of Toralei was shocked at how easily this action came to them, as if they’ve held each other’s hands for years.

“I know it’s not the easiest place for you to be, but the beach is one of my favorite spots in the whole world.” Heath said and Toralei chuckled nervously and tucked some fur behind her ear.

“Perhaps it’s only fair. I mean I did drag you through the forest earlier today.” Toralei said and Heath chuckled.

“I almost forgot about that.” Heath admitted.

“So why do you love the beach so much?” Toralei asked and Heath looked around.

“I find it very relaxing. I’m a fire element, basically a force of nature personified. So to be here, a natural part of this world I can’t destroy, is calming to me.” Heath said. They walked along the water’s edge, listening to the sound of waves crashing and sand shifting beneath their feet.

“I guess sand can’t really catch fire, huh. And if anything did flame up, the ocean is right there to help you out. So you can also relax knowing that you can’t really hurt anyone here.” Toralei commented and Heath nodded.

“Exactly.” Heath said. Now, knowing what this place meant to Heath, Toralei couldn’t help but relax as well. The sound of the ocean and buoys were as rhythmic as a strong heartbeat. She looked up at Heath and she noticed how calm he was. His shoulders weren’t tensed, his breathing was slow, and his whole body flowed easily- as if he were surrounded by water. A few more minutes pasted and they came across the pier. They went up and walked to the edge. Heath let go of Toralei’s hands and he sat down; allowing his legs to dangle.

“Did your parents bring you here as a kid?” Toralei asked, leaning against the wooden railing.

“Actually it was my grandma.” Heath corrected.

“Well that’s nice.” Toralei said and Heath nodded.

“She was a real special lady. She worked hard to pay for things like presents, or food when we visited, so I couldn’t see her whenever I wanted. But she took a genuine interest in me. She took the time to get to know me and talk to me and play with me.” Heath said, swallowing so he could suppress his emotions. Toralei went ahead and sat down beside Heath.

“Sounds like she really loved you.” Toralei said. Heath glanced at her, hesitating to continue.

“She, um... she was also very honest with me. In fact, she got in trouble for telling me about my older brother.” Heath said and Toralei blinked.

“I thought you were an only child.” Toralei said and Heath sighed heavily.

“I am.” Heath whispered. Toralei but her lip and looked away, when she realized the truth of the matter. But Heath felt the need to explain further.

“Hey, face me and cross your legs.” Heath asked Toralei to do, as he did this as well. She knew Heath had a reason for this, she just didn’t know what that was.

“I’m gonna tell you what my grandmother told me- minus the cartoon voices.” Heath said and Toralei giggled at that last part.

“The way fire elements reproduce is a direct result of how much control they possess over their fire.” Heath said and he snapped both of his hands to create two small flames.

“Both parents need to concentrate their flame at a very specific temperature. Then after a few hours or days of their combined powers, a new flame will produce from the two of them.” Heath said. He merged the two flames together and held one flame in the palm of his hand.

“Now that the new flame has been created, it gets placed in the fire of the fireplace; where it must live until it grows and fully develops into a baby fire element.” Heath explained, the flame in his hand briefly forming the shape of a baby, then back to a regular flame.

“Every new flame is different, so it’s hard to tell how long it needs to be kept in the fireplace. That’s not an easy job either, since it requires complete concentration to keep the heat at the correct temperature. The flame has to stay there for at least 6 months, but is could take as long as 18 months to fully develop into a baby.” Heath said, the flame in his hand dissipated and he sighed.

“Normally fire elements will sit like this to form the flame. Holding hands and heat between them. My parents only did this twice, for my brother and me. I think I took about ten months to develop.” Heath took a deep breath. Toralei put a hand in his knee.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Toralei said and Heath looked up at her kind eyes. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand gently.

“I want you to know.” Heath said softly and this surprised Toralei. Did he really trust her that much?

“As long as you’re sure.” Toralei said and Heath nodded.

“I am. Let’s see, where was I? Right. My brother apparently took longer then that. He was in the fireplace for 13 months when the earthquake happened.” Heath said and he squeezed Toralei’s hand.

“I know I wasn’t alive when it happened, but I think about this a lot. The earthquake was bad, my grandmother said it broke our house in two. My brother was knocked out of the fireplace. Mom went after him and dad did his best to keep most of the fireplace up, but the fire went out. Mom tried to keep my brother warm with her fire, but by the time the earthquake stopped and dad relit the flames to the correct temperature, it was too late. My brother’s flame went out.” Heath said and Toralei wasn’t sure if it would help, but she leaned forward and gave him a timid hug.

“I’m sorry.” Toralei said sincerely. Heath was surprised at the act, so he didn’t return it right away. But when his shock subsided, he wrapped his arms around Toralei and pulled her close to him.

“My parents might kill me for telling you. They didn’t even want to tell me about it. My Nana told me about my brother when I was 7 years old, so my folks were really mad at her.” Heath said.

“You were only 7?” Toralei asked and Heath nodded.

“I think I made a comment about wanting a brother to play with, and my mother started crying hysterically. My Nana picked me up, brought me here, and she explained everything to me.” Heath said. Toralei’s back felt a twinge of pain, and she decided to fix it. Keeping Heath’s arms around her, she scooted over and curled up sweetly in Heath’s lap. She wasn’t looking at him, but Heath froze when she did this. On one hand she’s a werecat, so it made sense for her to curl up in his warmth. But he never expected Toralei to snuggle against him so sweetly.

“I wish I could make it all better.” Toralei whispered into his closet. Then a thought occurred to him.

“Toralei, are you cold?” Heath asked. Toralei looked up at him, with a nervous chuckle and she tucked some fur behind her ear. Heath smiled at this gesture she did so often. It was adorable.

“I am a little.” Toralei admitted. Without hesitation, Heath removes his jacket and wrapped it around Toralei’s shoulders. In that moment, she was glad she was a werecat, because her orange fur covered up how deep her blush must be. Yes, she always thought Heath was hotter without his jacket, but no boy has ever given her their jacket before. She didn’t know how to feel about it.

“Girl, you’ve got to tell me these things. I can’t really tell when it’s cold. The only time I have been cold is when I had to cross the desert.” Heath said and Toralei cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Why did you have to cross the desert?” Toralei asked and Heath chuckled softly.

“We were tracking Clawdeen’s design book. It made a break for it in Scaris and we had to chase it all over the globe.” Heath explained and Toralei rolled her eyes.

“Well, as long as you have a good reason.” Toralei said and they both laughed.

“Hey, listen, before we completely change the topic, let me finish the last bit of my brother.” Heath said. Toralei took a deep breath and put on Heath’s jacket properly, even sipping it up to trap in Heath’s lingering warmth.

“Ok.” Toralei said and Heath nodded.

“My brother died around Christmas, so December tends to be a pretty emotional time for my parents. Mom can be pretty emotional on most days, but in December there are days when his death hits her so hard that she can’t get out of bed. Even before I knew about my brother, U have always done my best to make my mother laugh and feel better. Most of the time I fail, but I keep trying.” Heath said, sounding so incredibly vulnerable. He sighed and hugged Toralei again.

“I know, I’m not that funny, but I try. I have to. I can tell when my folks look at me that I constantly remind them of his death. They are too sad to laugh, but I want them to feel better.” Heath said, squeezing Toralei so hard that she needed to return the hug so it wouldn’t hurt. He placed his head on her shoulder, gently inhaling her scent.

“At school I joke around a lot, and I sometimes tag along where I’m not asked to be. I can see how annoyed people get with me, but I want to help. If there is anyway to help my friends with a problem or make them feel better, then I want to do it. Manny is easy to be friends with, because he doesn’t really get emotional. But sometimes he can be a jerk and I’ll jump on his bandwagon.” Heath said.

“Well, I certainly understand how that feels.” Toralei said and Heath smiled against her.

“See, right there. That’s why I think you’re so wonderful.” Heath said, lifting his head to see the shocked expression on her face.

“You think I’m wonderful?” Toralei asked in disbelief.

“So when I make jokes, you may not always laugh, but you don’t really condemn me either. Your smart and funny and highly observant. When I talk to you, I feel like you’re sincerely paying attention to me. Whereas others focus more on if I’ll flame up or not. And during these past few days, I feel like a different person with you. I like who I am with you, and, um... and I would be devastated if you disappeared for a month.” Heath said and Toralei’s breath hitches. That off-comment effected him so much that he needed to tell her all this. It made the werecat so emotional that she felt like crying, but she refused to do so.

“Heath, do you...?” She bit her lip. Heath was a bit concerned that he crossed a line and that Toralei was about to reject him. Toralei took a steady breath.

“Do you want to hang out again, tomorrow?” Toralei asked. Heath smiled and he pressed his forehead against hers.

“I would love that.” Heath said and Toralei’s heart swelled at those words. In truth, she’s wanted to hang out with Heath for a long time now.

They stayed like this for so long, they almost fell asleep. It was time to drive Heath home and say goodnight. But it wasn’t so bad to say goodbye, because it wasn’t the end.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it’s characters.

Chapter 15,

The whole experience felt like an absolute dream. Toralei sighed happily when she walked into her room, loving the way Heath’s jacket felt around her.

“Meow.” Toralei heard and she turned.

“Sweet Fangs! There you are!” Toralei said, swooping down to pick up her saber-toothed tiger cub. She nuzzled her dear kitten sweetly.

“Where have you been hiding, you naughty girl? I wanted you to say hello to Heath.” Toralei lightly chided the creature who simply rubbed her face. Toralei chuckled at Sweet Fangs then she put her on the bed.

“Pretty kitty, I know you’re just ready to get fed and that’s why you want my attention, but right now, I don’t care. I had the best day.” Toralei said. She opened her closet, since that’s where she kept Sweet Fangs’ cat food, filled a sweet cup with the food and poured it in Sweet Fangs’ bowl. The tiny tiger rushed to her bowl and immediately started chomping down on her dinner. Toralei glanced at the clock, went over to her computer, and sent a quick message. Only a moment past before a video call popped up on her monitor.

“Toralei, hey.” A female troll said when Toralei accepted the call.

“Hey there, Teala. How’s it going?” Toralei asked and Teala shrugged.

“Eh, you know, it’s fine. The preparations for our Christmas ball are taking forever. But the dress you sent me came in yesterday and it fits like a dream.” Teala said and Toralei sighed in relief.

“Thank goodness, I was so worried that it was too small.” Toralei said and Teala laughed.

“No, it’s perfect, Toralei l. You stitched it up perfectly.” Teala said and Toralei sat back in her chair.

“That’s wonderful. I can make clothes for myself, easily; but other monsters? Phew, I’m glad Monster High has a fashion department.” Toralei said.

“Well, couldn’t you ask someone there to help you? I mean you told me about that girl Clawdeen, you went to Scaris with her. Surely she’s qualified to help with the dress.” Teala asked and Toralei shrugged.

“She’s a wonderful designer, don’t get me wrong. It’s just we aren’t really close. She could have helped me to figure out the process of designing and sewing clothes, but I doubt she would help me if I asked her to.” Toralei said and Teala shrugged.

“Oh well, I guess it doesn’t really matter now. Hey, you have a winter dance too, right? Do you know what you’re gonna wear for that?” Teala asked.

“I haven’t given that much thought. I know it’s a bit more formal, but I guess I could just wear my normal outfit.” Toralei said.

“Oh, come on, Toralei. There is only a few times in our lives where we can wear formal attire and get away with it. I think you would look beautiful in a gown.” Teala said and Toralei smiled at her.

“I would look drop dead gorgeous in anything.” Toralei said and Teala chuckled.

“Fair point, but listen to me. You are always dressed in tough girl clothes with tiger stripes and leather-“

“What’s wrong with stripes?” Toralei asked and Teala giggled.

“Nothing. But you wear that so often, I just think it would be nice to see you in something else.” Teala said and Toralei thought about this for a moment before speaking.

“Like what?” Toralei asked and Teala shrugged.

“Like, maybe a light blue dress. Like one of those mermaid dresses with a sweetheart neckline to outline that beautiful figure of yours. You can put your hair back in a ponytail, maybe wear elbow high gloves and a shawl that matches the dress. Ugh! I’m so jealous of how pretty you are; but dress like that and you’ll overshadow everyone.” Teala said and Toralei smiled.

“That would be different from what I normally wear.” Toralei admitted and Teala nodded.

“Speaking of which, what’s with the jacket? I thought you weren’t back together with Rocco.” Teala said and Toralei’s whole face lit up. She lifted the sleeve so Teala could see the flame design on it.

“Heath Burns gave this to me tonight.” Toralei squealed our and Teala smiled widely.

“That flame dude you got a thing for? When did this happen?” Teala said and Toralei giggled shamelessly.

“Today! Oh, ghoul friend, I’m falling for him so hard.” Toralei said and Teala laughed.

“No kidding, you’ve been crushing on him for a while now. Are you actually a couple?” Teala said and Toralei sighed longingly.

“No, we aren’t. But I have got to tell you about my day.” Toralei said and Teala moved closer to her computer.

“Go on.” Teala encouraged and Toralei sighed.

“Ok, so you remember me telling you about those Ask Cupid boxes that were around school?” Toralei asked and Teala nodded.

“Yeah, Stripes, I remember.” Teala said and Toralei giggled.

“Shut up, Stripes was a good nom de plume.” Toralei said and Teala rolled her eyes.

“Stripes is your last name; which is the exact opposite of a nom de plume.” Teala said and Toralei scoffed.

“Whatever, yesterday she read my first letter and it didn’t go over well. The whole school treated Heath like a parasite. So in creative writing, I wrote out a second letter correcting that mistake.” Toralei said.

“You do hate kicking a monster when they’re down.” Teala recalled and Toralei smiled.

“Yeah, exactly. Today, though, Meowlody and Purrsephone asked Cupid to read the Stripes letter earlier, at lunch.” Toralei said and Teala blinked.

“Do they know you wrote the letter?” Teala asked and Toralei shrugged.

“Only if they remember that’s my last name. No one had used it in years, so that’s why I thought it was perfect.” Toralei said.

“So they asked Cupid to read the letter?” Teala asked and Toralei nodded.

“Yeah. This letter fixed what I originally wrote, but it worked a little too well. Now people are chasing Heath instead of avoiding him. I ended up rescuing him and we hid together.” Toralei said and Teala smiled.

“Oh?” She asked.

“We ended up dancing to ‘Every Breath You Take’. After school we snuck out of the classroom and ran through the woods. I brought him home to help Christine bake for her bake sale.” Toralei said and Teala giggled.

“Why did Christine ask for him?” Teala asked.

“She didn’t, really. She saw that the over was broken and started yapping about how disappointed she was. I told her that Heath could help us out and she thought it was a good idea.” Toralei said.

“Girl, you are crushing soooo hard.” Teala said and Toralei scoffed playfully.

“Shut up, I am not, as if.” Toralei said and they both laughed.

“Then what happened?” Teala asked.

“After the baking was done, Heath and I saw ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ at the theater. After that, we went to the beach and cuddles at the pier. That’s when he gave me his jacket.” Toralei said, still excited by the whole thing.

“Aw, how cute.” Teala said and a Toralei sighed.

“I know I’ll have to return it tomorrow when I see him, but still.” Toralei said.

“It all sounds so romantic. Did you guys kiss at all?” Teala said and Toralei’s face fell.

“No.” Toralei said and Teala bit her lip.

“Is there a problem?” Teala asked and Toralei nodded.

“Yeah. What if we kiss and he regrets it so much that he never wants to see me again? What if he learns that I am Stripes and it was me that messed with his life? But more importantly...” Toralei looked away.

“Everyone at school knows that Heath has a crush on Abbey. He’ll never fall for me, not really. Even if he decides to date me, everyone will know that he’s just dating me until Abbey changes her mind. I don’t want to be anyone’s replacement, and winning means nothing if you cheat, so I won’t badmouth Abbey. He’ll never love me like I love him, and that’s why I wanted my feelings to go away to begin with.” Toralei said sadly and Teala looked away and then back at Toralei.

“Maybe he can love you.” Teala said and Toralei shrugged.

“A kitty can’t change their Stripes, Ghoul. He wants Abbey, and I’m not Abbey.” Toralei said and Teala sighed.

“And your gonna see him again tomorrow?” Teala asked and Toralei nodded.

“Yeah, I do. In fact, we are gonna hang out tomorrow.” Toralei said and Teala smiled.

“What are you gonna do?” Teala asked and Toralei shrugged.

“I have no idea. Maybe hang out at the mall?” Toralei said and Teala giggled.

“I actually have to pick up some streamers for the dance. Maybe we can all have lunch together or something.” Teala suggested and Toralei smiled.

“That sounds fun, I’d like that.” Toralei said, and then a knock came from her doorframe. She turned and saw her foster father, Harry.

“It’s getting late, Toralei; too late for a social call. Did you complete your homework?” He asked.

“The only homework I have is to write a poem, I can crank that out without trying.” Toralei said and Harry crosses his arms.

“I hope you’re telling the truth, young lady. I don’t want to receive any calls from Bloodgood, telling me that you aren’t completing your assignments.” Harry said and Toralei smiled.

“Understood.” Toralei said and Harry took a deep breath.

“Hurry up with your call so you can get to bed.” Harry said and Toralei nodded.

“Night, Harry.” Toralei said.

“Good night Toralei. You too, Teala.” Harry said to the both of them.

“Goodnight, Mr. Hallow.” Teala said and Harry left them alone.

“Sometimes I forget that you live with normies. What do you think you’ll do when you leave Monster High?” Teala asked and Toralei shrugged.

“I want to be famous, but if I don’t become a dancer or singer, it won’t break me. I learned how to survive on the streets back when air was a kitten. I can survive them again if I have to.” Toralei said and Teala blinked.

“Or... maybe we could find an apartment together.” Teala said and Toralei’s eyes widened.

“Really?” Toralei asked and Teala laughed.

“Of course, Toralei. You’re my best friend; have been since that ride home from Math Camp. And I do not want you to go back to living on the streets.” Teala said and Toralei’s eyes watered just a little.

“You know that camp was a punishment for me.” Toralei reminded her, and Teala nodded.

“Yeah, I know. But you listened to me talk about my stupid boyfriend who just dumped me. Then you somehow find his number, called him pretending to be his hero, and you put him in his place. You stood up for me back when I didn’t know how to stand up for myself.” Teala said and Toralei wipes her eyes.

“I get the point, now cut it out.” Toralei said and Teala giggled softly.

“Ok, fine, I guess it is pretty late. Text me, ok? I want to be up-to-date on anything Heath related.” Teala said and Toralei sighed fondly.

“I will, Teala. He sure is special.” Toralei said.

“You better. Good night.” Teala said.

“Goodnight.” Toralei said and their call ended.

Toralei loved having Heath’s jacket around her, and she didn’t want to take it off. So after she wrote her poems, she went to bed wearing it. She closed her eyes trying to memorize it all. The soft fabric, the giddy emotions she was feeling, and even the way she couldn’t stop thinking about Heath staring at her back on the pier. She fell asleep immersed in the scent of ash and cheap cologne, and loving how Heathy it was.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it’s characters.

Chapter 16,

It almost felt strange for Heath to walk around Monster High without his varsity jacket, but he wouldn’t change anything. Toralei looked so adorable wearing his jacket, and the image of her wearing it made him feel fuzzy all over.

“Looking good, Heath.” Frankie said, when she walked up to him.

“I’m feeling good, Frankie.” Heath said and Frankie looked him up and down.

“What’s with you?” Frankie asked with a smile and Heath shrugged.

“Yesterday was a good day, I slept well, and I guess I just woke up in a good mood.” Heath said and Frankie giggled.

“That’s great Heath. I was actually worried about you, so I’m glad to hear you’re happy.” Frankie said.

“Oh? Why were you worried?” Heath asked.

“I don’t know. Yesterday you were surprised that I talked to you in the morning, then half the school started chasing you, then you went berserk at gym and didn’t really talk about it.” Frankie said.

“I was surprised you talked to me because everyone was avoiding me like the pelage. And as for the dodgeball thing, I was just mad at Clawd.” Heath said and Frankie nodded.

“But why were you mad at him?” Frankie asked and Heath rubbed the back of his neck.

“I agreed to help Toralei after school and Clawd thought I shouldn’t help her. We argued a little and I didn’t like what he hd to say about Toralei. I got mad and decided to take out Clawd’s whole team to prove that I was serious about helping her.” Heath said and Frankie blinked at this response.

“Huh, that seems like a silly reason to get upset. You should be able to help whoever you want to help.” Frankie said and Heath nodded.

“It doesn’t really matter. I had a good time with her yesterday.” Heath said and Frankie smiled.

“That’s great! What did you two do?” Frankie asked.

“Well, I went over to her house to help her family cook. Then we went to see a movie, and then the beach for a bit. It was really nice.” Heath said.

“Oh, that sounds sweet and voltagous.” Frankie said and Heath nodded.

“It was. In fact we are gonna hang out after school today.” Heath said and Frankie smirked.

“Fang on a second. Are you developing feelings for Toralei?” Frankie asked. Her energy was so positive that Heath just had to tell her the truth.

“I think I am.” Heath said with a sigh. It felt so good to finally say it out loud, and his smile proved it.

“Oh, that is so cute. How does she feel?” Frankie asked and Heath hesitated.

“I don’t think she likes me.” Heath said.

“Why not?” Frankie asked and Heath frowned.

“She talked about Rocco. They aren’t really dating right now, but she has a thing for some other guy.” Heath said and Frankie paused.

“Well, maybe the other guy is you.” Frankie suggested and Heath sighed.

“I don’t think so. I mean, she kinda has a type. She liked Valentine, and Rocco, and this other dude is probably like them.” Heath said.

“Well, just keep it in mind, would you? I mean you guys spent hours together yesterday and you guys are gonna hang out again today? Maybe you two are meant to be together.” Frankie said and Heath rubbed the back of his neck.

“That’s Sweet of you to say Frankie.” Heath said.

“No stitch. What are you gonna do today?” Frankie asked and Heath froze.

“Oh, I have no idea, we didn’t really talk about that. Where would you hang out?” Heath asked.

“Probably the mall. There is something for everyone there.” Frankie said and Heath nodded.

“Yeah, that’s good; that’s really good.” Heath said and Frankie chuckled at him.

“Heath, are you nervous?” Frankie asked.

“What? Who, me? The Heath-Mister?” Heath asked with a nervous laughter on his lips. Then he took a good look at Frankie and sighed.

“Yes.” Heath whispered after a moment and Frankie was shocked at this

“Well, hey. If you do go to the mall, maybe the threes of us could grab a bite to eat.” Frankie suggested and Heath bit his lip.

“Would you be ok with that?” Heath asked and Frankie nodded enthusiastically.

“Of course. I like everyone at Monster High, and that includes Toralei.” Frankie said and she glanced behind Heath and giggled.

“Speaking of which...” Frankie muttered and Heath turned around and beamed at the smiling werecat walking up to him.

“Toralei!” Heath said a bit too loudly and Toralei tucked some fur behind her ear and chuckled nervously.

“You’re so loud.” Toralei commented and HeTh rubbed the back of his neck.

“Sorry, I was just excited to see you.” Heath said, and for a brief moment, he thought he heard Toralei purring.

“Well that’s a first in my book.” Toralei said. Then to Heath’s surprise, she leaned in and kissed his cheek. This act caused the fire element to blush like a madman.

“I’m excited to see you too.” Toralei said, turning her gaze to a poster on the wall.

“What’s up, Toralei?” Frankie asked and Toralei straightened her back.

“I just wanted to return Heath’s jacket and thank him for allowing me to borrow it.” Toralei said, and Heath was surprised at how quickly Toralei became serious.

“Oh, right. My jacket.” Heath said. He went to grab the article of clothing, but halfway he stopped and pulled his hands back.

“I think it would be better if you kept it today.” Heath said. Both Toralei and Frankie’s eyes widened at this comment:

“Really?” Frankie asked.

“Are you sure?” Toralei said and Heath nodded.

“Yeah. I lent you that jacket to keep you warm, and I don’t think I will be able to focus, if I think you’re walking around Monster High all cold.” Heath said and Toralei chuckled nervously.

“Walking around in your jacket is pretty symbolic though. It’s like telling everyone that we are a couple when we aren’t. Doesn’t that bother you?” Toralei asked slowly and Heath smiled.

“It doesn’t bother me if it doesn’t bother you.” Heath said. Toralei smiled and bit her lip; then she unfolded his jacket and put it on.

“It doesn’t bother me one bit.” Toralei said and Heath chuckled nervously.

“It looks good on you.” Heath said and Toralei tucked some fur behind her ear/

“Thanks.” Toralei said and Heath smiled.

“Hey I was thinking that we could hang out at the mall after school. We can even have a snack with Frankie, since she needs to get something there as well.” Heath said and Toralei blinked.

“Oh, that’s actually perfect. My friend Teala wanted to have lunch at the mall so it can be the four of us.” Toralei said and Heath blinked.

“Teala, whose that?” Heath asked and Toralei giggled.

“She is a troll who just happens to be my best friend. She doesn’t attend Monster High, but she is dying to meet you, Heath. And I’m sure that she would love to meet Frankie too.” Toralei said and Heath smiled.

“I’d love to meet her.” Heath said.

“Me too.” Frankie agreed and Toralei smiled.

“Great, I’ll text her.” Toralei said, pulling out her phone and typing up a quick text.

“She’s super pumped about the idea.” Toralei said and then the bell rang.

“Oh, it’s time for class. See you later, guys.” Frankie said, walking off.

“I guess I’ll see you at lunch.” Toralei said sweetly and Heath nodded at her.

“It’s a date.” Heath said calmly before walking away.

Toralei stood there for a moment, breath stolen, as she watched him walk away. As for Heath, he was about halfway to his class when he realized what he said and it was his turn to freeze. He couldn’t believe he let that comment slip out of him. He really should be more careful around Toralei. He would hate to scare her off.

[Hey, everyone this is QueenAlicorn. If you are interested I now have a Tumblr account. You can follow and share your favorite stories with others. Hope you’re enjoying the story]


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it's characters.

Chapter 17,

Heath was walking out of Home Ick, when he bumped into Deuce.

"Hey-Hey, dude. Where have you been hiding?" Deuce asked and Heath simply shrugged.

"I haven't really been hiding, Deuce. I've been going to my classes and whatnot. The only thing I've changed was that I have been walking a new way to class." Heath said nonchalantly and Deuce nodded.

"Still having trouble with ghouls running around?" Deuce asked and Heath nodded.

"I've been laying low. I might be in great shape, but I didn't want to take the chance." Heath explained and Deuce nodded.

"I get that, dude." Deuce said.

"But hey, you and Clawd went shopping yesterday, how did you guys make out?" Heath asked as they entered the cafeteria. Immediately Heath looked at the crowd of people, looking for his tiger lily.

"I bought Cleo this rad necklace I heard her talking about. Clawd bought this black jacket with some pink... uh, ribbon, or accent, or highlighter, I don't know. But it looks pretty cool and I think our girls will be happy." Deuce said as they got in line.

"Did you keep the receipts?" Heath asked and Deuce nodded.

"It's in the bag, with the gift, ok." Deuce said and Heath smiled.

"Just double checking, Deuce." Heath said as they started gathering up their food.

"So I know yesterday you were a little touchy. Clawd said you didn't go to the mall with us because you had to help Toralei." Deuce said.

"Are you gonna go off on Toralei being a 'bad kitty'?" Heath asked and Deuce shook his head.

"Dude, you should know me better then that. Have you forgotten who my mom was?" Deuce asked and Heath stared at him.

"Well, she's Medusa, but why bring her up?" Heath asked and Deuce sighed.

"A long time ago, my mother was human; very beautiful. Then there was an incident and Aphrodite turned my mother and her sisters into the famous gorgons that you all think of when you hear the word 'medusa'. Now some say that Aphrodite was jealous of mom's beauty, and that's why she cursed her. Others say that mom had many love affairs in Aphrodite's temple, possibly including Poseidon or even Zeus, depending on who you ask." Deuce said.

"So which one is the truth?" Heath asked and Deuce shrugged.

"Mom says Aphrodite was jealous, aunt Sthenno says mom lured Poseidon to Aphrodite's temple. But neither of them are telling the truth." Deuce said and Heath paused.

"Then what really happened?" Heath asked and Deuce but his lip and stared down at his tray.

"Aunt Euryale decided to tell me the truth when a I told her Cleo had a sister. You see there was this man... a very famous man, named Perseus who came to their village. Sthenno is the oldest and her name means 'forceful' because their parents wanted her to be strong enough to defend the land. Euryale's name means 'far-roaming', so she could travel great distances and anticipate upcoming events. Mom's name, 'Medusa', actually means 'to protect' 'to rule over'... 'guardian'... someone to stand by her family and protect them at all costs." Deuce paused to take a deep breath.

"Sthenno's made weapons with the blacksmith, Euryale gathered crops with the farmers, and... mother cared for the little children as their parents were away. Aunt Euryale says they were happy." Deuce said softly.

"Before Perseus came the village?" Heath asked and Deuce nodded.

"All three of them fell in love with Perseus. And in this love, they grew angry and hostile towards each other. They prayed to Aphrodite to make their sisters ugly, so that Perseus would love them and only them. Eventually Perseus whisked away my mother and married her in the middle of the night while my aunts were sleeping." Deuce said. He pulled out his wallet and paid for his lunch. Heath did the same.

"So why would Aphrodite change them all? Was she jealous of them because she wanted Perseus for herself?" Heath asked and Deuce shook his head.

"Dude, then it gets nitty gritty. Aunt Euryale said that, when they woke up and saw mom missing, they were angry because they knew what she did. But then they grew sad and started crying. Months later a traveling salesmen comes to town, dragging my pregnant mother in chains." Deuce said this softly.

"Chains?" Heath asked and Deuce turned his head away.

"She married Perseus and then he turned around and sold her to Poseidon, who sold her to the salesman when he was done with her. My aunts rushed home and gathered every cent they had and bought my mother back. Reunited, once again, they all swore to never let a man break them apart. And that's when Aphrodite finally answered their prayers and turned them all into gorgons. Not as a punishment, but as a reminder to each of them to never let hate overcome their love for each other. Aphrodite even gave them the gift of turning people into stone, in order to stop dudes like Perseus from destroying families." Deuce said and Heath whistled.

"Dang... um, does that mean your dad is Perseus or maybe Poseidon?" Heath asked and Deuce shrugged.

"Honestly, dude, I don't know. I might be a quarter lightning god, or half water god. But I don't care. Both of those jerks used my mother and they are considered heroes, and the rest of the world see my mother as some ugly villain." Deuce said and Heath looked down at his tray.

"I'm sorry about that." Heath said.

"Heath, listen; to me, my mom and my aunts are the strongest, wisest, and most beautiful monsters I've ever known. Heh, don't tell Cleo cause she'll get jealous. But the rest of the world see them as cruel... evil... bad." Deuce said and Heath rose an eyebrow at that last word.

"My point is that I like to think guys and ghouls are more complex then simple 'good' and 'bad'. Everyone makes mistakes or act in jealousy or even revenge. So I'm not gonna tell you that Toralei is a 'bad kitty', or anything like that. If you wanna become better friends with Toralei, then I say 'go for it'. I'm with you all the way." Deuce said and Heath blinked.

"Really? But Clawd and Cleo don't seem to like Toralei at all." Heath said and Deuce shrugged.

"I'm sure Clawd is just being protective of you, because you are his friend and he would hate to see you get hurt. As for Cleo... I'll try to talk to her, but maybe try to give her time. I'm almost surprised that you care so much about her opinion; should I be jealous?" Deuce teased.

"No. I was just thinking that Clawd is your best bro, and Cleo is your girlfriend. But they don't like Toralei, but you're willing to give her a chance." Heath simplified and Deuce shrugged.

"Like I said, I think creatures are more complex then 'good' or 'bad'. Hey, maybe you should ask Toralei over to our table for lunch, today." Deuce suggested, gesturing to the right. Heath turned his head and saw sweet Toralei sitting at her lunch table. Once again, she was sitting alone, reading her little book and eating her lunch with a fork.

For a brief moment, he wondered why she was sitting alone again. Then Heath remembered that Christine said something about Meowlody and Purrsephone getting in a fight with Toralei saying she always felt like an outcast. Too good for the trouble makers and makes too much trouble for the good kids.

"Actually, Deuce... I think it would be better if I sat with her today." Heath said and Deuce patted Heath's shoulder.

"Well said, dude. I'll text you." Deuce said walking away from the flame head. Heath took a breath to settle his nerves and he walked over to the werecat.

"Hello Heath." Toralei said without looking up.

"Man, how do you do that?" Heath asked and Toralei smirked.

"I keep telling you, you smell like ash and cheap cologne. I always know when you're near." Toralei said and Heath chuckled.

"Can I eat lunch with you?" Heath asked and Toralei paused and looked up at him.

"You mean that?" Toralei asked and Heath nodded.

"Well, that might be a really good book and the smell of me might make you loose your appetite, but... can I eat lunch with you?" Heath asked, starting to feel a little self-conscious.

"Um, sure." Toralei said, putting down her book as Heath sat down.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Heath asked and Toralei hummed as she thought.

"What's your favorite food?" Toralei asked and Heath took a bite of his burger and thought about it.

"Ghost chilis, definitely." Heath said and Toralei tried not to laugh.

"Oh, really?" Toralei said and Heath nodded.

"Yep, they are like candy to me." Heath said and Toralei swallowed a chuckled and nodded.

"How long have you been into ghost peppers?" Toralei asked.

"Oh, forever. I am a fire element after all, I can handle the heat." Heath said and Toralei bit her lip.

"Do you have any idea how many Scoville Heat Units a ghost pepper has?" Toralei asked and Heath hesitated.

"Um, no..." He said softly.

"About a million on average." Toralei said.

"Yeah, so? I told you I can handle the heat." Heath commented.

"Ok, do you know that a regular jalapeño can only get as hot as 5,000 heat units?" Toralei asked and Heath rose an eyebrow at her.

"Alright." Heath said and Toralei nodded.

"Well, did you forget about the normie Halloween party we went to?" Toralei asked and Heath's eyes widened as he remembered.

"Oh, please don't say it." Heath begged.

"And you flames out because the jalapeño anchors were too spicy for you." Toralei half-squeaked out before giggling like a mad-cat. Heath groaned and slumped his head in defeat.

"I asked you not to say anything." Heath wined over-dramatically, and then they both laugheh together.

Now it is pretty standard that most laughter in a crowd gets muddled and lost around the dozens of voices conversing along. However, there was one person who heard the sounds of their joy, and grew angry/

"What in the world is Heath doing with that traitor?" Cleo asked her friends.

"Your bandages are too tight, Cleo. Toralei may not be my favorite person in the world, but I wouldn't call her a traitor." Lagoona said and Cleo looked insulted.

"How could you say that after she embarrassed you in front of the whole school. Or did you forget the time when she exposed your stage fight and you went belly up?" Cleo said and Lagoona narrowed her eyes at Cleo.

"Yeah, I froze up like a fish stick, and I became the most famous monster meme. But she did defend me in front of everyone in my home town. That experience also helped me to get over my fear of Kala, and we became best pals again. I got to spend some time with my family, who I never get to see anymore. And I like to think everyone who came got a little stronger and we got closer together." Lagoona said and Cleo rolled her eyes.

"Oh, stop making excuses for her, Lagoona." Cleo said and Clawdeen shrugged.

"Lagoona may be right about some things, but I don't know if I would necessarily trust the cat. Do you think we should be worried about Heath?" Clawdeen asked and Jinafire glanced at Heath.

"Heath is old enough to make his own decisions, and who he spends his time with. Mistake or not, if Heath decides to be Toralei's friend, it is his decision to make." Jinafire said and Draculaura hesitated.

"I don't know. Toralei keeps throwing meat in my face, causing me to get sick and faint. And she does it for no reason what so ever. Who knows what she will do to Heath." Draculaura said and Frankie walked over with her food and sat down with her friends.

"Hey guys. What are you all talking about?" Frankie asked in her usual perky tone.

"We we're trying to figure out if we should trust Toralei or not." Clawdeen said and Cleo crossed her arms over her chest.

"Actually we were talking about Heath sitting with Toralei." Cleo said and Draculaura blinked.

"You know, it is a little odd that they're sitting together. I can't remember a time they had a real conversation before." Draculaura commented and Frankie nodded.

"I guess that's true. I don't remember them talking in Paris or at the Great Scarrier Reef." Frankie said.

"And they certainly didn't talk when we went to retaliate on the normie high school." Cleo said and Frankie shrugged.

"Well, they're talking now, and I don't think that's so bad." Frankie said. Lagoona couldn't help but smile at her friend and roll her eyes.

"Oh, crikey, Frankie. It's easy for you to think the world of Toralei. You're so nice, she's probably never done anything rotten to you." Lagoona said with a chuckle in her voice, and everyone giggled.

"Hey wait, is Toralei wearing Heath's jacket? Why is she wearing that?" Clawdeen said and Lagoona blinked.

"Blimey. I don't think Gil's even let me wear his jacket like that. Are they dating?" Lagoona said and Frankie shook her head.

"Noooo, they aren't dating. He gave the jacket to her last night because she was cold. She tried to give it back to him this morning, but he said she cold wear it today." Frankie explained.

"Yesterday? Why were they together yesterday?" Cleo asked and Frankie shrugged.

"She asked Heath to come over to her house; I guess her parents needed help to cook food. They hung out afterwards and that's when he offered Toralei his jacket." Frankie said and Jinafire blinked.

"Odd. If she needed help to produce a constant heat temperature, she could have come to me. Why didn't she?" Jinafire said and Frankie shrugged.

"I don't know. If you want, I could ask her after school." Frankie said and Cleo froze.

"You're hanging out with Toralei, Frankie?" Cleo asked and Frankie nodded.

"Me, Heath, Toralei, and Toralei's best friend. We're gonna go go the mall and hang out, probably get something to eat or whatever." Frankie said.

"Best friend? Does she not have two best friends?" Jinafire asked.

"She should. Meowlody and Purrsephone." Draculaura said and Clawdeen scoffed.

"Two more bad kitties." Clawdeen said and Frankie took a calming breath.

"Actually she said her best friend doesn't go to Monster High. But she's excited to meet Heath and I later." Frankie said. Cleo didn't like the idea of Frankie being nice to Toralei. However she DID enjoy the notion that she could use Frankie to spy on Toralei. That sneaky kitty must be up to something if she's walking around with the human matchstick.

"That sounds wonderful Frankie." Cleo said as happily as she could bear.

"I hope you take lots of pictures and text me all the deets." Cleo said and Frankie smiled at her.

"Oh sure. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for any clawsome sales." Frankie said with a giggle and Cleo smiled back.

And though this subject was dropped, Clawdeen took a subtle, suspicious glance at Cleo. Sure, she didn't know what Cleo was up to, but she recognized that mischievous look and that utterly fake tone. Perhaps it would be good to keep an eye on Cleo. Just to make sure she doesn't do anything to embarrass herself, or Deuce, or Frankie, or Heath... or Toralei.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it's characters. Also, I do not own the monologues that Toralei will read later.

Chapter 18,

Heath was stretching by the bleachers, all by his lonesome when his gym teacher Irene Maiden walked into the room, with Coach Igor.

"Students!" She said and everyone gathered around them.

"It seems that there was a little incident down in Mr. Hacklington's class today." She started, putting her arms behind her back and slowly paced in front of them.

"I won't go into detail for the few of you who would be reckless enough to repeat such a stupid prank. Long story short, the drama class is compromised so they will be sharing the gym with us. And I have decided to teach those detention students an... acupuncture lesson; so today Mr. Igor will be in charge. Mr. Where and the drama students will arrive shortly. Mr. Igor, set up the vines for the obstacle course. I wanna make sure the drama kids have plenty of room." Irene Maiden said and Mr. Igor gave her a very respectful nod.

"As you wish, Ms. Maiden." Coach Igor said and she gave him a curt nod.

"Adio, Efiga." Ms. Maiden said, and Heath smiled. Ms. Maiden said that so often since she resumed her job here at Monster High. Since it was Greek, he once asked Deuce what it translated to. According to Deuce, 'Adio, Efiga' means 'bye, I'm out.'

"Wouldn't the drama students be more comfortable in the auditorium?" Clawd said and Deuce shrugged.

"I think Ms. Siren has her choir students in there with that German music teacher and his band." Deuce said and Heath rose an eyebrow at him.

"German music teacher? You mean Holland Opus?" Heath asked and Deuce smiled.

"Yeah, Mr. Opus; that's the dude." Deuce said. Clawd looked at Heath and crossed him arms over his chest.

"Ok, so they wouldn't be more comfortable, but surely they could find somewhere else to prance around like pixies." Clawd said and Deuce elbowed him.

"Careful, dude. If one of the thornwillow sisters hear you talking like that, they'll snap you like a twig." Deuce said and Clawd eyed him.

"They are nymphs; why would they get particular about the term 'pixies'?" Clawd asked.

"Sometimes people call them pixies because they think nymphs and pixies are the same." Deuce explained and Clawd rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." Clawd said bitterly and Deuce blinked.

"And to quote Albert Finney 'To be a character who feels a deep emotion, one must go into the memory's vault and mix in a sad memory from one's own life'." Mr. Where boomed as he swung open the doors and allowed a gaggle of students into the gym. Deuce was just about to ask Clawd why he was being so sour, when Clawd glared and the drama students.

"Don't look now, Heath; but you're about to get happy." Clawd said. Heath turned and his eyes landed on Toralei and he smiled widely. She was a little stiff when she entered the room, and she lazily scanned the surrounding area. But when her gaze fell on Heath, she tended in surprise and then she smiled warmly at him. Her smile was so wonderful that Heath flamed up, and Toralei bashfully giggled at this.

"Vines are down! Ok, 5 laps running then 5 laps swinging!" Coach Igor said and then he blew the whistle. Deuce and Clawd were surprised when the, normally apprehensive Heath, started running laps as requested. They just hoped that jogging 5 laps will calm Heath's flames before he got to the vines. Deuce and Clawd gently paced themselves and they ran side by side, like the buds they are. However Deuce kinda got frustrated by the way Clawd growled softly when they passed the drama class.

"Dude, tone down the drama, would you?" Deuce said and Clawd looked at him.

"What are you talking about?" Clawd asked.

"You don't have to get so mad at Toralei for just being in the same room as you. I swear, you and Cleo are just the same sometimes." Deuce said and Clawd scoffed.

"Yeah, right. If we were so similar, she wouldn't have dumped me to be with you." Clawd said.

"And yet, you didn't get this upset over that. Bro, Toralei's done, like, nothing to you." Deuce said and Clawd rolled his eyes.

"Well, she's done plenty to Draculaura and Clawdeen and Cleo and Lagoona and-"

"I get it." Deuce made him stop.

"She's a bad kitty, born and bred." Clawd said and Deuce shifted his lower jaw.

"You know, I like to think things are a little more complicated then that." Deuce said and Clawd sighed.

"Who cares? She's proven time and time again that she is cruel and untrustworthy. And quite honestly, I bet things would have been better if she never came to Monster High. Don't you agree?" Clawd asked and Deuce shrugged.

"I don't know. I mean you don't know how that would affect things." Deuce said and Clawd rolled his eyes.

"Ok, fine. Technically we can't really know something like that. Why are you defending her?" Clawd asked and Deuce gestured to Heath.

"Because Heath is our friend and I don't think he would appreciate the way you're talking about Toralei." Deuce said.

"Oh, that?" Clawd said with a grimace and Deuce nodded.

"Yeah, that." Deuce said and Clawd sighed.

"As far as I am concerned, Heath is on thin ice." Clawd said and Deuce cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Uh-huh, why?" Deuce said, almost sarcastically.

"First of all, Heath and I aren't that close to begin with. We don't really have a lot in common and if I really think about it, I think we only know each other because he is on our skultimate roller team. Even then, he is spending time with Toralei, who loves to play dirty and share our secrets with Rocco. On the same token, he is letting her walk around in his varsity jacket, even though she is a big cheater. You add the way she seems to backstab everyone she's ever met, and you're stuck with one unsavory character." Clawd said and Deuce shrugged.

"Maybe it just seems that way, but-"

"Dude, can we, like, not have this conversation right now?" Clawd asked.

"After gym?" Deuce asked and Clawd hesitated.

"Fine, I guess." He said, but mostly to shut Deuce up.

Heath was on his third lap when he finally worked off his flame. He knew that they were in entirely different classes, but he was just so excited to see Toralei- even if it was just running circles around her. Or so he assumed at least.

He was running past the bleachers when he felt something wrap around his torso and pull him off to the side. He found himself pressed against the wall in a small blind spot and looked down to see an orange tail wrapped around him. He smiled at Toralei as her tail unwound and returned to her; he didn't know what to say.

"Gosh, I'm so happy to see you." Toralei said in Heath's voice and he rolled his eyes.

"You make me sound as dorky as Shaggy." Heath said and Toralei smiled.

"Well, you both eat all the time, and you're both accident prone, and you both hang out with a talking dog-" She jabbed a thumb towards Clawd and then she giggled.

"We might as well call you and Clawd Shaggy and Scooby." Toralei said and Heath chuckled.

"Then who is Fred, Daphne, and Velma?" Heath asked and Toralei scoffed playfully.

"Are you kidding? Velma has to be Ghoulia, Fred has to be Deuce, and that defaults Cleo, unfortunately has to be Daphne." Toralei said and Heath nodded.

"Ok, ok, you got me there. Even though you don't like Cleo, that seems to work very, very well." Heath said and Toralei shrugged.

"Thanks." Toralei said.

"You're welcome... Hey, how come you don't like Cleo anyways? I mean you never seemed to like her." Heath asked. Toralei paused and crossed her arms.

"You know, for your information, I knew Cleo for several months before I started disliking her." Toralei said and Heath blinked.

"Really?" Heath asked and Toralei looked away.

"Well... I like to tell people that I'm being tough, you know? You find the people who rule the show, kick them from their throne, and then you rule the show... but since it's you... well... when I first met Cleo, I felt bad for her." Toralei said and Heath was shocked.

"Seriously?" Heath asked and Toralei shrugged.

"I mean, I guess it doesn't really matter now, but back then? Yeah, I did." Toralei said.

"Well, what happened?" Heath said, incredibly interested.

"Oh, let's see." Toralei muttered as she stepped into the darkness of the bleachers and Heath followed.

"When we first got to Monster High, you know, Meowlody and Purrsephone, and I; Bloodgood thought that it would be grand if we joined some club or sport to participate in. The girls didn't care, so I picked the fearleading squad. It felt so natural to me, all the twirls and dancing and prancing- I moved like that my whole life, when I was living on the streets. Not only was it something I was actually good at, but K was surrounded by a group of girls who loved it too. They always told me how amazing I was and they loved the ideas I had for our routines. And I got really close with the fearleading captain, Nefera de Nile, Cleo's older sister. She was very protective of the three of us, until I messed it up." Toralei paused to sit on the floor and lean her back against the wall.

"I really liked Nefera, and being Egyptian she really liked the girls and I... but when Cleo joined the team, she was just awful. She had no clue what she was doing, and Nefera refused to help her; out of fear that Cleo might surpass her. I remember her saying that one day Cleo would embarrass herself enough to quit. When that happens, she would shine her fearleading trophies everyday when Cleo came home to remind her never to try out again." Toralei said and Heath went ahead and sat next to her.

"So, yes, I felt bad for Cleo. She was trying so hard to keep up, just for her sister to bully her out and rub it in her face? There's a lot of bad things I'll do, but I won't kick a monster while they're down, that's just cruel. So I decided to stay after school with Cleo and train her personally, so she had a chance at staying." Toralei said and Heath's eyes widened.

"You taught her that stuff." Heath asked and Toralei nodded. Then she recalled something and smiled.

"Man, you want to know what I just remembered? Cleo was dating Clawd at the time. They didn't love each other, though, they were basically dating just because as 'top monsters' that's what was expected of them. Deuce had a crush on her, but refused to do anything about it because he knew she was in a relationship. You should have seen the look on Cleo's face when I told her Deuce was crazy about her." Toralei said.

"How did you know?" Heath asked and Toralei smirked.

"You know cats are just as empathetic as dogs, we are just more selective to who we choose to comfort. Personally, I can always tell which monsters hate or love each other, it's easy. When it comes to monsters emotions towards me, I try to block it or sometimes so doubt what I sense... but others is easy. I knew Deuce likes Cleo the second he saw her. She just didn't know until I told her." Toralei said and Heath smiled.

"Well, who-da guess." Heath said, impressed.

"Well, anyways, Nefera kinda hates the fact that I taught Cleo and trained her to be better. She felt like I betrayed her and she selected Cleo to replace her- not because she wanted Cleo to be a leader, but because she didn't want me to be rewarded for being a traitor." Toralei was silent for a moment and took a deep breath.

"And when Cleo became captain, she kinda disregarded everything I taught her and she treated me like someone whose never heard of the word 'fearleading'. I hated what she was doing to the team, and even though I loved it, I quit the team and joined drama instead. At least there I can still dance." Toralei said and Heath whistled.

"Dang, no wonder you're not Cleo's biggest fan." Heath said and Toralei nodded.

"Yeah, the fact that she keeps walking around like she owns the place is just another fire under my butt, to bring that princess back down to earth." Toralei said and Heath bit his lip.

"Did you tell Cleo about Nefera?" Heath asked.

"Nah, what's the point? If she's smart, she would know that Nefera wanted her to fail, some adding baggage isn't gonna change a thing. And if she actually believes she earned her spot, then she won't believe me. Heck, even if she did, she would never admit it." Toralei said and Heath looked down.

"Well, at least you enjoy theater." Heath said and Toralei smiled.

"Yeah. I mean, sometimes me dancing is still a little stiff, like a fearleading performance, but I'm getting better. Oh, you want to know what our big assignment is today?" Toralei asked.

"What is it?" Heath asked.

"We had to find two poems or monologues that work together and read them back to back. Then Mr. Where will pick a couple and we will put together a short skit to perform next week." Toralei said.

"Hey that's cool. When are you reading yours?" Heath asked and Toralei looked through the bleachers towards her drama class.

"Right after crescent star- oh crud she's on strange now." Toralei and Heath quickly stood up. They rushed back to their classes; Toralei sitting with her group and Heath running like a maniac. But when Heath got to the vines, he peeked his attention to Toralei as she read her piece.

"You hate me, don't you? I am never good enough for you. No matter what I do, it's not as good as my sister. I always have to hear how she would have done it better; or how she already did it better. Why does she want to ruin my life? She just wants to blot me out like I was some sort of mistake. I'm just a copy. A copy of a copy. Not as good as the original. Not as good as you. You are so perfect. Everyone around me is so perfect. And there was nothing left over for me. I am the left over failures. I am the fatty waste you toss to the dogs. Everyone hates me.

"Why does everyone think I am so horrible. Probably because I am. A horrible creature doomed to walk this earth and suffer; for you. I'm hurting. Hurting so bad inside. Cut off from everyone. Punished for some past life wrongs. What did I do in a past life to deserve this. Or am I paying for the sins of my father, and mother. Am I your sin? Or do I remind you of some sin you want to forget? Or am I a disappointment that keeps disappointing. I even disappoint myself.

"I will never be my sister, I don't want to be her. I hate everything about her. But I don't want to be me either. Sometimes I want to fade away. Become a shadow, fading away, forgotten. Maybe if you forget about me I won't make you so sad anymore." Toralei read and she flipped a page.

"Mr. Agnon, things that I deal with everyday, it seems to always be happening to me and how do I know when it's big enough for me to get you? I don't want to bother you over every little thing that happens to me because then I think you will get angry at me as if it's my fault and I know, I know I'm not angel but I think it's all because of the fact that thinks started out wrong for me and ever since, it's always been a problem. Like you said earlier, perception, people see me as some loser and overtime that perception has only been cemented in people mind.

"Cause, I've tried; I've tried to show other sides of myself but I'm never looked at differently. It's like a curse I can't break and so guess I've sort of accepted the fact that I am this loser, troublemaker or whatever you want to call me. I've grown to become this character from everyone's mind because it makes everyone happy. I bring comfort in a way because I'm labeled and I know I sound crazy but these are the things I'm dealing with and I just wanted you to hear it from me." Toralei finished and her class applauded. Heath thinks he heard Mr. Where suggesting that her assignment may have been better if it were reversed, but other then that it did wellZ

Heath felt a little sad though, when he listened to Toralei read. He didn't know what these two speeches were from, but he couldn't help but wonder if Toralei connected with them on some level. Does she really feel labeled? Does she really feel like fading away until she is forgotten? It does seem to fit in with her saying she doubted anyone would notice her disappearing for a month, last night. Granted this assignment was most likely selected by then, so her feelings may be different now.

But still, maybe there is something he could give or say to Toralei that would remind her how much she matters. After all, Christmas was coming up and he could do something nice for her. Although he'll probably need Ghoulia's help.


End file.
